Not in Kansas Anymore
by Alecca
Summary: PostCommencement, Lana's so traumatized by seeing Smallville destroyed that Isobel's able to take full control of her body, but finds that her magical powers are gone. This prompts her to make a deal with Lex. 2 years into the future, Lana startles awake
1. Prologue Lana in Wonderland

_**Not in Kansas anymore **_

_**Prologue**_

_**Lana in Wonderland**_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. The sound of medical equipment close by, fogginess, blurred images and someone calling out her name. Then suddenly, her voice saying: "You want this body. I want the world." Bells and days flashing by and no one she knew and everything she knew…and rooms and drinks and parties and warm bodies until there was nothing left but a vortex of colors and sounds that ate her up. _

Lana startled awake.

She blinked several times until her vision cleared completely and she looked around the room with a curious gaze. It was huge: tastefully decorated, with massive windows, king size bed, white walls, Persian rugs. And everything completely foreign to her. Where was she? What was the last thing she remembered?

"Smallville," she muttered under her breath. She remembered seeing her hometown destroyed by another meteor shower. She had probably fainted or…what was it about the chopper? It had crashed! Now she remembered. She had probably been hurt and brought there to recover. She looked at her arms, touched her face. She didn't seem to have any injuries. She didn't feel any pain. She just had a headache. She pulled the covers away to analyze the rest of her body for possible injuries and realized she was naked. She pulled the covers back over herself and was even more confused. Who could own such an apartment? By the richness of it, only one person came to mind. But what would she be doing in Lex's mansion, naked? Wait, hadn't the mansion been destroyed as well? As she thought about these things she realized she was unconsciously playing with something on one of her fingers. She looked down and saw a gold band around her finger. A wedding ring. She quickly took it off and looked at it closer. It was a wedding ring all right. A very fine one. It had an engraving on it too, but she couldn't quite make it out.

She stood up from the bed and, dragging the sheets after her, she headed for a wall length mirror to study herself closer. In the mirror she noticed something startling – beside the fact she looked somehow older and her hair had a totally different style from the one she had had - behind her, through the massive windows, the skyline of Metropolis could be seen. She knew only one thing that could have made such a blank in her mind. Isobel. She turned her back toward the mirror and let the sheets slide down her body enough for her to see if anything had changed about her tattoo. Just as she was doing that, the doors of the room swung open and Lex strode in. She quickly brought the sheets closer to her body.

"Lex! What are you doing here?" she asked annoyed.

"Good morning to you too," he muttered giving her a short glance and then walking over to the bar – there was a bar too? Lana hadn't noticed it before – he casually poured himself a drink.

"Lex…," Lana said after a moment of hesitation. "Did something ha…"

"I really liked your speech," Lex said turning back toward her holding a glass of what she assumed to be whiskey.

"What speech?" she asked careful. Lex checked his watch and then grabbing a remote laying on the table he opened a gigantic flat television screen.

"It should be on about now. The press had a blast with it. They've been running it every hour since you made the declaration," he said as he turned up the volume a notch.

"_And in Metropolis news, Lana Luthor faced with the accusations brought against Lang Pharmaceuticals by the staggering number of 100.000 of their products' buyers, released a public statement yesterday afternoon. This is what Mrs. Luthor had to say," the anchorwoman said and then Lana was suddenly on TV in front of an army of journalists and told them:_

"_Their claims are preposterous. They have no basis or proof for their accusations. I won't even bother trying to settle this out of court. If they wanted to drag my name through the mud, I think it's only fair I return the favor and make sure the public knows what kind of people they are. My company will not be preyed upon."_

"_Mrs. Luthor, some of the organizers of this civil action claim not to want any material compensation but the immediate shutdown of Lang Pharmaceuticals. What do you think about that?" a journalist from the crowd asked._

"_Well, if that's true then it's also true that my husband keeps little green men in the basements of Luthorcorp or my side of the bed empty," she said with a smile and some of the journalists chuckled. _

Lex turned off the TV.

"Nice," he smirked and looked at Lana. "I would've liked it even better if you had mentioned you don't exactly keep your side of the bed empty either." Instinctually Lana slapped him across the face. But it only made him smile. "Too late to start playing the prude now, darling. We both know we're not exactly saints. Come on, I have an army of spies watching over you. You have an army of spies watching over me. We're as sick as that," he neared her dangerously and pressed his lips lightly to hers before she had a chance to react and then left the room. "I'll see you tonight at the party."

When he was gone and she was alone once more, Lana hugged herself. It had been Isobel! And she had…married Lex? And what was Lang Pharmaceuticals? She stared at the blank TV screen. She took the remote Lex had disregarded on the bed and turned it on again. She changed channels until she came across a news one that showed the date. 12 June 2007. She stared at it wide eyed. It couldn't be! She looked around the room distressed and came across a phone on the nightstand. As soon as she picked it up however a female voice on the other end of the line said:

"What can I help you with, Mrs. Luthor?"

"Who is this?" she asked confused.

"Uhm, it's Florence, Mrs. Luthor. Your personal assistant," the girl told her.

"Florence," she repeated hoping that it would maybe make her remember who she was. It didn't work. She didn't know any Florence.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked again.

"Could you find out if someone is in Metropolis, Florence?" she asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Of course," she could hear her looking for a pen. When she found it, she said: "Name?"

"Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan," she told her.

"I don't know about this Clark Kent, but I'm pretty sure Ms. Sullivan is in town, ma'am," the girl said.

"She is? Where can I find her?" she asked relieved that at least someone she knew was there. And with Chloe's investigation skills they'd get to the bottom of all this in a few hours.

"At the Daily Planet of course," the girl answered her. Lana smiled. Yes, that was the place she had imagined Chloe Sullivan would be in 2 years.

_End Prologue_


	2. Part 1: Walk like a Luthor

Author's note: I haven't really decided on a central couple for the story, but I think it's safe to say it will focus on more than one.

_**Part 1 **_

_**Walk like a Luthor**_

The sports car pulled into the driveway of the Daily Planet after a dizzying show of speed through Metropolis. Lana didn't know where she had learnt to drive like that. The citizens of Metropolis however didn't seem shocked or surprised to see her driving like a lunatic through downtown. Actually they seemed to have grown accustomed to it. Lex used to drive like that, she recalled. She stared at the wedding ring on her finger – she hadn't quite brought herself to take it off for some reason. The car came to a screeching halt and she got out. She was surprised once again how used to the stiletto heels she seemed to be. She had tried to find something to her liking in the massive wardrobe in her apartment – shoes over shoes, party dresses over party dresses and a drawer full of sexy lingerie she had blushed for hours on end after seeing – but she had scarcely come up with anything remotely comfortable. Everything was far too elegant or far too sexy and all far too expensive looking. She still felt like someone would be returning to that apartment, that wardrobe and hold her responsible for every little crease on those perfect designer clothes or every object out of place. She recalled Florence catching her trying to remove a carpet stain she had accidentally made with her morning coffee and the shocked expression on the girl's face. Apparently, Lana Luthor never raised a finger to clean up anything.

Lana walked – in her designer suit, in her stiletto shoes – through the doors of the Daily Planet. Every person she passed by stared at her. Surprised to see her there. Some even looking like they were frightened. Yes, Isobel could frighten people, but not Lana.

"Mrs. Luthor, to what do we owe the pleasure?" a middle-aged man asked coming up to her.

"Uhm, I was wondering if Chloe Sullivan is here. My assistant called earlier but she couldn't find out exactly when Chloe would be in so I thought I'd try and see if I can find her now," Lana told him politely.

"Aaaah…Chloe…well, the truth is… I'm not sure she's in. She was supposed to take an interview this morning and I don't think she came back yet," he told her on an apologetic tone.

"Well I'm sure Chloe can spare some time for a dear old friend like Mrs. Luthor," Chloe said with a sarcastic smile coming out from behind a desk in the back of the room.

"Chloe!" Lana said with a smile of relief. Her friend didn't seem too changed.

"If you'll step up to my desk, Mrs. Luthor," she invited her to sit opposite her at her desk. Behind her, on the wall, Lana noticed an intricate maze of pictures and notes, many of which contained the name Luthor. "Not exactly Smallville's wall of weird, but I like to think of it as Metropolis' sleaze panel."

"Is my name there?" Lana asked squinting her eyes to be able to read the names better.

"Why are you here, Lana?" Chloe suddenly dropped the sarcastic front and the heavy formality.

"Aren't we friends anymore?" she asked looking at her uneasy.

"The last time I tried to talk to you, you had two tugs beat the crap out of me. Those flowers you sent me to the hospital were a nice touch though. Very…Luthor of you," she said leaning back in her chair.

"No! I would never…," she wanted to protest.

"Spare me the public denial, Lana, this is off the record," Chloe scoffed. "Lex tracked down the tugs, remember? He apologized in your name," she paused for a moment before going on: "You know, Lex might be evil too, but at least he doesn't totally forget who his friends were at some point. He even visited me at the hospital."

"Yeah, well maybe he needs a new bed comforter," Lana replied and her eyes went wide when she realized what she had just said and she brought her hands to her mouth.

"Now that's the Lana Luthor I know," she said with a smirk.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say…to imply something like that," she apologized.

"Since when do you apologize for anything?" she shook her head. "Look, if this is about Lang Pharmaceuticals, you're wasting your time. My testimony still stands and I don't intend to back out of it for all the money in the world."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about something else," Lana said uncomfortable. "I wanted to ask you whether you know where Clark is."

"You tell me, Clark's been missing for the last two years. You're the last one who saw him before he mysteriously vanished," she reminded her.

"When was this?" Lana asked trying hard to think back to the events before her total blackout.

"When you came to. In the hospital," Chloe said. "Here in Metropolis." Lana tried hard to remember, but couldn't recall a single thing. "It's funny," the reporter said with a weak smile. "You woke up, saw Clark and then a week later you married Lex. Somehow it doesn't sound like the way the story's suppose to go."

"Chloe, listen," Lana bit her lip. "This is going to sound crazy and you probably won't believe me, but I swear it's the truth." Chloe looked at her confused. "I don't remember anything that's happened in the last 2 years. The last thing I recall is the helicopter I was in crashing. I think somehow…Isobel took me over."

"You're right. That's a good joke," she said laughing nervously. "And yeah, I don't believe you. Not after everything you and Lex have done. To me, to this city, to hundreds of thousands of people."

"It's the truth," Lana insisted and tears formed in her eyes. Only instead of impressing her, her tears only made Chloe mad. She stood up and yelled at her:

"Get out!" and when Lana didn't move she repeated pointing toward the exit: "GET OUT!" The people in the room looked back at Chloe in shock. No one told Lana Luthor to get out. And there would be consequences for Chloe's actions that would affect them all. Lana stood up and made her way out of the Daily Planet still in tears.

"Sullivan, are you freaking insane!" the editor in chief asked coming up to Chloe.

"Maybe," Chloe said looking after Lana out the windows. "It's weird. Feels like she wanted me to do this."

"Yeah, so she could have a reason to take us down. Or to question your testimony," he shook his head.

"We'll see," she said as she saw Lana getting in her car and speeding out of the Daily Planet's driveway. She couldn't not feel suspicious about Lana's visit. The Luthors were famous for their ulterior motives after all. But what if she had been telling the truth? She'd soon find out.

When Lana returned to her apartment, she found a stack of messages waiting for her from Florence. A Mister Jeffries had called 20 times and had left his number just in case she didn't have it. She had received a large bouquet of flowers from someone with a note that said: "For the best night of my life. Signed, Q.". Next to the vase Florence had put the flowers in, there was the latest edition from a Metropolis tabloid with a picture of her kissing some guy on the front page. The title said: "Who's in Mrs. Luthor's bed tonight?"

Hesitantly, Lana opened the tabloid to the article in question. There were even more pictures with her and the same guy from the cover and the article said:

"_Mrs. Luthor does it again. The multibillionaire minx, recently accused of producing contaminated pharmaceuticals on a grand scale, doesn't seem to be worried of the upcoming trial when she will be put up against the masses of outraged buyers that have suffered from Lang Pharmaceuticals' products. She still appears at public benefits and private parties, showing off that grade A smile and the latest in European fashion. And, of course, her latest conquest. This week it was Central City's bad boy Quentin Terrane, son of oil tycoon Terrence Terrane,_" Lana looked back at the bouquet of flowers and frowned. At least now she knew who Q. was and what he looked like. She returned to the article: "_Meanwhile, her husband, the infamous Lex Luthor, was halfway around the world sealing a deal to open a Luthorcorp enterprise in Shangai and bad mouths say enjoying the company of an exquisite Asian flower whose name we do not dare mention in the pages of this fine publication."_

Lana threw the tabloid on the table and sighed. She then noticed two thick envelopes lying behind the flower vase. One of them had Lex's handwriting on it. She had learnt to recognize it after they had started doing business together. She opened his envelope first. It was full of pictures of her and that Quentin guy. But these pictures were a bit more explicit than what the tabloid had gotten. She blushed a furious shade of red and read the note attached to the pictures. It had only two words on it, oozing Lex's brand of sarcasm: "Nice choice." She could see him smile without him even being there. She quickly put away the envelope not even thinking about the fact those pictures had probably been in the hands of a photographer and maybe even more people. The second envelope had pictures of the same nature, except Lex was in them with an Asian woman. A typewritten note brought to her attention that the woman was the Chinese ambassador to the United States.

Lana put the envelope away and sighed. Lex hadn't lied. They were both carefully – and very closely – watching each other.

"Mrs. Luthor?" Florence asked shyly from the door. Lana Luthor was known for her mood swings.

"Yes?" she looked up at her after glancing nervously back at the envelopes now laying one over the other. She wondered whether Florence knew about the existence of that 'mutual spy-system' Lex had mentioned to her that morning.

"Mister Jeffries called again," she told her. "He said he needs to talk to you urgently."

"Uhm," she chuckled nervously. "Which Mister Jeffries are you talking about? It's slipping my mind right now."

"Your lead attorney on the Lang Pharmaceuticals trial," she reminded her, thinking it was strange for her to forget someone as important as Mr. Jeffries. "Should I tell him you're in now?"

"Aah, can you just, I don't know, tell him to call back tomorrow? Tell him I'm feeling sick or something," she suggested.

"Will do, Mrs. Luthor," Florence nodded. When she was half way out she came back inside and told her: "Mister Terrane called earlier too. He wanted to see if you were free for dinner. I kindly reminded him that the Luthorcorp benefit party is taking place tonight and that you would be attending it with your husband." Florence thought she was going to be yelled at, smacked around even – she had heard one of Mrs. Luthor's previous assistants had gotten the beating of her life after she had accidentally ruined her favorite dress – but Lana only told her:

"Good," and after a paused enquired: "This benefit party…Is it important for me to go?"

"Well, I'm sure your husband would appreciate your presence," she offered hesitantly.

"Are Lex and I separated? Or we have separate bedrooms or apartments?" she asked looking around. It had occurred to her while she had been getting dressed that morning that she hadn't found any indication that a man was living in the same room with her.

"I believe the two of you decided it was best if you lived separately," Florence said expecting Lana's fury to explode at any moment for the insolence of having even implied such a thing, although everyone knew that was the truth.

"Where does Lex live?" she asked her.

"Right there, Mrs. Luthor," Florence pointed out the windows at the building right across the street. Lana realized their apartments were probably parallel to one another.

"If we're separated that means I'm not obligated to attend that benefit party," Lana said. "Could you tell him I can't make it?"

"Of course," Florence said swallowing hard. It was one of her duties she despised more. Telling Lex Luthor that his wife was 'unavailable'. He always screamed and cursed a lot and the second day Florence always got a flower bouquet and an apology note for being so rude. Although the flowers were nice, Florence would've preferred simply not to have to speak to him.

"Thank you," Lana said and after a moment asked: "Tell me, Florence, do I happen to have some picture albums around here? Or some sort of…article archive?"

"Yes, you have the private albums you keep in your wardrobe, Mrs. Luthor," she told her. Why was she so forgetful that day? She had probably drunk too much the previous night. It happened sometimes.

"And articles about me?" she enquired.

"Uhm…no," she shook her head and reminded her: "You burn all of those."

"Oh," Lana let out. "That'll be all, Florence," she told her assistant and the girl made her way out of the apartment. As soon as she was gone, Lana headed straight for the wardrobe. Maybe Isobel had left some clues as to what she had been doing in the last 2 years.

_End Part 1 _


	3. Part 2: Escape from Wonderland

_**Part 2**_

_**Escape from Wonderland**_

It was late and Lana was sitting cross-legged on the bed looking down at the picture albums she had found hidden deep within her – Isobel's – wardrobe. It had taken her a while to find them. She had taken out all the clothes and all the shoes and all those wonderfully expensive things, but she still hadn't found anything. However, only when all the clothes were out did she notice the fake floor beneath the mountain of shoes. And there, in a secret cabinet she had finally come across the picture albums Florence had referred to as 'private'. Now that she saw them, Lana understood why exactly they were 'private'. She had expected wedding pictures and old highschool ones, but instead had found an archive of pictures with Lex and everyone he had ever slept with since…well, Lana assumed, their marriage. Another album was full of pictures with handsome men and Lana hoped to god she hadn't really slept with all of them.

Without knowing what she was doing or why, she took out a picture from the envelope she had gotten from probably some spy of hers with Lex and the ambassador and put it on the last page of the album with Lex's past conquests. Disturbed, Lana put away that album. What the hell had they been doing? Some who conquers more people competition? She stared at the wall for a few moments before grabbing the album again and starting to flip through it. She wondered whether she knew any of those women. Then something strange started happening to her. As she stared at the pictures, showing Lex in the most intimate moments with women, they seemed to come alive before her eyes.

_Lex…_ A voice cried out in her mind.

Something fast and dangerous and familiar. _Lex…Lex…_ She wanted to unglue her eyes from the pictures, but couldn't. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her cheeks flushed_. Lex…Lex…Lex…Lex…_Then suddenly looking up:

"Lex!" there he was, leaning on the wall, observing her with a foggy gaze. She hadn't even heard him coming in.

"Mrs. Luthor," he saluted her raising his glass in her honor. Why did he always seem to have a glass in his hand?

"Have you been drinking?" Lana asked after a moment of awkward silence in which she fumbled with the album, putting it away.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You weren't really there to tell me when to stop."

"Oh, the benefit," she suddenly recalled. It had totally slipped her mind.

"The benefit," he repeated smirking. "I had a ball, just in case you're wondering. And I'm pretty sure your spies will have interesting things to report in the morning."

"I'm sorry if you wanted me there. It's just…," she looked at the albums spread on the bed. "I had a weird day."

"Mine wasn't all that good either," he said as he played absently with a crystal figurine displayed on a low shelf. Then suddenly looking up at her: "Funny thing happened. At the benefit. Quentin just happened to be there."

"Quentin…uhm," she looked back at the tabloid still lying on the nightstand next to her bed. "Terrane?" Lex chuckled.

"I'm glad you don't even remember his name. He's a smug kid," he said looking into his glass. "He couldn't help but try his best to rub it in my face all evening that he's sleeping with my wife instead of me," he stared straight at her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It must've been awful for you," she added, but he only smirked:

"I've gotten used to it by now," he said and smiled weakly. "If I didn't know you just use them for the night and then throw them out with the morning garbage, I'd probably mind." Lana didn't say anything. She felt embarrassed by Isobel's actions in her body. Lex neared the bed until his knees were against the mattress and cupped her face in his palms. His breath smelled of wine. "So I did what I always do. I drank enough alcohol to knock out a small army and came up here to convince myself I can have you – unlike all those college rich playboys – anytime I want." He leaned down and kissed her. And this time it wasn't the chaste kiss from that morning, but a hungry kiss – mixed with fury and lust - that demanded more and more. The next thing Lana knew she was spread on the bed with Lex on top of her, kissing her, his tongue slipping over hers. And his hands…they just wouldn't stay still…Lana didn't even have time to register everything as he undid the fastenings of her silk robe and touched her. There. Fingers sliding over the hemline of her underwear and…

"Lex, no," she managed to murmur and push him slightly away, breathing heavily.

"Come on, it's been over a month. I almost forgot how your skin tastes," he whispered in her ear looking up at her with eyes full of lust and clouded by alcohol, his fingers stopping their exploration. She just stared in those pale blue eyes and slowly, his fingers started moving again, but she pleaded in a soft voice, closing her eyes:

"Please don't."

He looked at her surprised for a moment and then suddenly pulled away. He buried his head in his hands as Lana gathered the robe around her body. She looked at him hesitantly and then, putting a hand on his shoulder, she asked:

"Are you all right?" He shook her hand off and told her:

"If you don't want to sleep with me just say it the way you usually do. Scream and kick and act crazy, but don't ever use that voice on me." At first she didn't understand until it suddenly dawned on her and she muttered:

"Lana's voice." He didn't say anything, but it was obvious that was what he had meant.

"This is crazy," he said under his breath, but he seemed to be addressing himself more than Lana.

"You could…stay here if you want," Lana said uncomfortably.

"I don't want to bother you," he said standing up. "It was a mistake to come here. My head wasn't clear," he headed for the door. "Good night."

"Good night, Lex," she whispered as he disappeared out the door.

In another part of Metropolis, in an empty building, only the lights on one floor and one window were on. Sitting at her desk, overlooking a pile of files, photos and paper clips, Chloe Sullivan leaned in her chair, put her hands under her head and sighed. Now, everything seemed to indicate that Lana had been honest. In over two years she hadn't thought a single time at the possibility of her being possessed. She had been so busy trying to catch her doing nasty things that she hadn't been able to see the truth was la ying right in front of her.

She looked over at the phone. It hadn't rang – as she had feared – to announce that Lana was pressing some sort of absurd charges against her or that she had a restraining order with her name on it…No, it hadn't rang at all. None of the other papers had announced anything spectacular would be running about the Luthors the next day except the usual things either. Illicit affairs, illegal activity, etc. Lana Luthor – the one Chloe had gotten to know in two excruciating years – would have publicly humiliated her, gotten her fired and taken over the Daily Planet by now just for Chloe's audacity of raising her voice.

So could Lana Luthor have actually been Isobel Theroux all this time? Chloe thought back to the events right after the meteor shower. Clark's disappearance. Lex showing his true face. Lana's mysterious illness. Lex taking care of Lana a little too much. Clark returning just in time to see Lana waking up. Then he was gone again and Lana had come back with a fresh new way of seeing life. A week later, she married Lex in an extravagant Bahamas wedding. She had been invited too. Like everyone had. She had seen them vowing eternal loyalty to each other. She smirked now as she looked at the stack of tabloids reporting Lex and Lana's many flings outside their marriage.

What had been Lana's words when Chloe had asked her what was suddenly wrong with her? Why had she just up and decided to marry Lex?

"_I almost died. I saw everything I ever loved destroyed in a matter of minutes. That just puts life in a whole other perspective. I'm sick and tired of having to fight for everything I want. To worry about what tomorrow may bring. With Lex, I won't ever have to worry about any of those things_," the words rang in her mind as if they had been spoken only seconds ago, not years.

Then, standing in the rubble of her own home, among the burnt copies she had kept of the Torch since she had started writing for it, with a lifetime of memories turned to ash at her feet, Chloe had somehow understood her. One meteor shower had made Lana an orphan on the cover of Time magazine and another had made her into a ruthless woman in a gorgeous designer dress on the cover of Bride Magazine. Chloe didn't think much of it then. Hadn't thought of it much later either. Money made people greedy. Too much money made them uncaring. And as much money as the Luthors had made them evil.

But if Isobel had truly taken over Lana, why had she allied herself with Lex? Before, if she recalled correctly, she had dispatched him without a second glance. And why hadn't she used her powers? Isobel had been big on using her magic. Unless of course something had taken her powers away. Like those rocks everyone kept mentioning, but she never understood what exactly they were for.

"God, listen to yourself, Sullivan," she muttered to herself shaking her head. "You've had too much coffee," she yawned and stood up. Lana was probably keeping everything under wraps till morning, making sure she'd be taken by surprise. She liked to kick people down when they least expected it.

In the morning however Chloe wouldn't be getting any surprises. Lana Luthor hadn't ordered a public image shattering hit against her. She would find the Daily Planet as she had left it, the papers full of Lex's escapades at the Luthorcorp benefit party, Lana's absence from it and speculations on reasons for it. Not one mention of Chloe's insolence or the earth-shattering consequences of it. Not one word.

In her apartment, Lana was twisting and turning in her bed. She hadn't managed to close an eye after Lex had left. She didn't understand why, but he had left something unsatisfied within her. It wasn't just the sexual frustration. It was also the fact she had felt like mocking him continuously for some reason. To beat him down when he was vulnerable, to scream and shout and laugh in his face. Tear him apart… And her tongue would've been sharper than a sword. She had never felt that way toward anyone. Lana Lang hadn't been capable of such fury, but her ancestor had been. Isobel apparently loved to hate Lex or actually loved him in a strange unconceivable way. What had Lex told her the previous morning?

"We're as sick as that," she muttered and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to be home again. She wanted everything to be the same as it was two years ago before Smallville's destruction. Why did things have to change? Couldn't she just take it all back? She closed her eyes and counted to ten. 1…Smallville…2….Clark…3…The barn…4… Smallville High…5…The Talon…6…Her apartment…7…Clark's kiss…8…Prom night…9…Her friends…10…the vague scent of someone familiar… "10," she repeated and opened her eyes. She was still in the Metropolis penthouse. She sighed frustrated and only now noticed that the room was full of flowers. When had they been delivered? She hadn't fallen asleep…had she? She hadn't felt like she had been sleeping. Maybe she had been focusing so hard on falling asleep she hadn't realize she actually had.

She stood up from the bed and picked up the card that had been conveniently left on the nightstand. It was hand written by Lex himself and it said: "From the unworthy husband of a goddess. I'm sorry about last night. Lex." She suddenly realized whose scent she had recalled in her mind. Lex's. And that kiss…it had felt so real…too real to have been just her mind remembering a distant memory.

She quickly got dressed. She gathered some things. Clothes, shoes, a tooth brush, anything essential she could get her hands on until the duffle bag she had found hidden in the back of the closet was full. She looked around the apartment, wondering whether Isobel kept money in cash around. She searched through the drawers, but found nothing. Only credit cards over credit cards she couldn't risk taking. In the end, she grabbed a necklace at random and headed out the door. She didn't even take her car, preferring to walk in a rush.

The pedestrians didn't pay much attention to her. She had sunglasses, no make-up and was dressed strangely. And although there might have been one or two who thought she resembled Lana Luthor a bit no one really spoke up. Lana Luthor didn't walk. She paraded, she strode. She drove. If Lana Luthor had been walking among them, there would have been an empty circle around her to be sure no one would be bothering her. But this was not Lana Luthor, but plain Lana Lang of Smallville. And Lana Lang was nowhere as frightening or as demanding as Mrs. Luthor.

_End Part 2_


	4. Part 3: The mysterious disappearance of ...

_**Part 3**_

_**The mysterious disappearance of Lana Luthor**_

The papers were running story after story, one more fictitious than the other. 48 hours had gone by and Lana Luthor was no where in sight. The trial was starting in two days and she wasn't there. To many, that sounded like an admission of guilt. Her lawyer, Michael Jeffries was frantic, nervous – no one had ever seen him in that state before - which only showed that Mrs. Luthor had skipped town without consulting him. And to make matters more sizzling, Lex Luthor was having rage tantrums all over the city. He had knocked over a newspaper stand the previous morning when he had seen the headlines: Lana's had enough! The small town princess turned Metropolis vixen calls her marriage quits. Lana Luthor, really gone? Lana Luthor and Quentin Terrane enjoying an amorous escapade in the Bahamas? And of course there were rumors of him beating the hell out of a Luthorcorp executive for even mentioning the possibility of Mrs. Luthor not returning to the comfort of her home.

In his office at Luthorcorp, Lex was trying to focus on some papers that needed his attention, but wasn't very successful. His mind kept drifting back to his wife. Why had she left like that? Had he crossed the line the previous night? Had she up and left him? Or…and this was the thought that made his stomach tie in knots, had Quentin Terrane offered her something he could never give her? Sure, Lana had escaped from Metropolis before, making headlines over headlines with her tumultuous exotic affairs, but never before had she left without telling him. Whether it had been just to rub it in his face or to make sure he wouldn't get too comfortable by himself, she had always told him when, where and with whom she was going. He recalled a few very indelicate notes she had left him: Gone to Brazil with Carlo. Planning on staying a week and experiencing Latin stamina at its best. Love, Lana or the unforgettable: Decided that the Philippines are far enough from you. Couldn't stand you for another moment after last night. Plan to wash away your stench with young native men. All the love, Lana. The press would've probably gotten a kick out of them. The absence of one in this case worried him and made him angry. He had beaten the private eye that was supposed to follow her around that day to a bloody pulp.

He lifted his eyes from the papers when he heard a light knock on the door. Shortly after, a young girl, barely 19, entered the room and told him, on a shy tone:

"Mr. Luthor, the…uhm, security people are here. They said you told them to come in as soon as they arrived," the girl told him, avoiding eye contact with him at all times. Had he slept with her? Lex couldn't remember. He didn't even recall her name and she was his secretary for more than four months now since his last one made their affair public and had accused him of everything from sexual harassment to rape. He won the trial of course and she didn't get a dime out of it. Lana had been very amused by it and hadn't stopped calling him a rapist for over two months.

"Let them in," he told her and watched her as she exited his office. Yeah, he had probably slept with her. She was pretty enough. The two security men entered the office a few seconds afterwards, with Chloe Sullivan walking between them. "Chloe, I'm glad you could make it."

"Kinda hard not to," she said looking at the two men that had 'escorted' her.

"Matt, Devon, out," Lex told the security men and they immediately left.

"Glad you sent a bunch of goons with the invitation. It wouldn't have been so warm and fuzzy otherwise. After all, Matt-Mad-Dog and I go way back," Chloe said after the tugs had disappeared out the door of Lex's office. "From when I first started snooping around Luthorcorp. Man has a mean punch I'll tell you that." Lex didn't say anything. "Aren't you going to say he was just doing his job?" she asked chuckling. Lex remained silent. "Serious today, aren't we?"

"You were the only person Lana wanted to see two days ago. She cancelled all her other meetings that day," Lex said calmly, leaning in his chair. "Why did she want to see you?"

"A few extra punches she forgot to give me?" she suggested amused. Lex didn't even smile. "You really don't know where she is?" she asked surprised by his seriousness. He shook his head. "And here I was thinking this whole thing was just something you and the little lady cooked up so she could bail on the by now infamous Lang Pharmaceuticals trial."

"The complainers are going to get smashed. The jury's paid for, the witnesses compromised, the drugs proven to be effective. The only person that's going to come out of that trial clean as a whistle is going to be Lana," Lex told her bluntly.

"What do you mean compromised?" she asked suddenly annoyed by his words. She had fought long and hard to get that trial to happen and she wasn't about to let it sink with the first Luthor tempest that was heading its way.

"That's not important," Lex brushed it off. "I want to know what she talked to you about. Did she mention any plans of leaving Metropolis? Any clues as to where she might go?"

"As a matter of fact," she said, deeply disgusted by him. He had killed the hope of over a hundred thousand people in one phrase and had brushed aside the catastrophic consequences of the continuing existence of Lang Pharmaceuticals' products on the market. "She mentioned something about leaving you for good, running off to the Canary Islands with Quentin Terrane and having that half a dozen kids she always dreamed of having but you could never give her."

"You're mocking me," he said with a smirk, but there was something dangerous in his tone.

"Don't use your scary look on me, Lex. I know you too well," Chloe said standing up. "Lana didn't tell me anything, okay? Why would she, anyway? Newsflash, she hates me," she pointed out. "Haven't you read the papers? She made a bullseye out of my picture after I wrote my expose on Lang Pharmaceuticals. She trashed my name and dragged my whole family through the mud in all the interviews she gave. I'm jealous, envious, traumatized, sad and apparently very much in love with you."

"Look, I know she hasn't exactly been nice to you…," Lex said and Chloe scoffed.

"Try down right evil," she corrected him.

"Please," he pleaded with her. "I need to know where she is."

Chloe sighed and her features softened – she couldn't understand how Lex, how anyone, could love Lana anymore:

"She really didn't say anything to me about it. She seemed a little…out of it, but other than that, she didn't mention anything about leaving," she assured him. She wasn't lying after all.

"Out of it how?" he asked frowning.

"She was unusually nice," was all she said and headed for the door. "I'll see myself out," when she reached the door she turned around and added: "And the next time you want to talk to me, just call instead of sending the welcoming wagon after me. I promise to be nice and answer the phone."

And with that she was gone.

Elsewhere in Metropolis, in a shady little apartment, Lana Lang – previously Lana Luthor, billionaire extraordinaire and wife of Lex Luthor – had fallen asleep with her head on a stack of papers laid out on the small desk in front of her. The light bulb didn't work so she had had to settle with an ancient lamp. She had bought as many current papers as possible, Xeroxed old numbers from a library, printed others off the internet, in hope of finding some clue as to what had happened to her in the last two years and why she had been able to come to at that moment. She was pretty sure she could have never done it on her own. Something must have happened for Isobel to have lost her total control over her.

Surprisingly, she had gone unnoticed in that part of town as no one thought Lana Luthor would be caught dead in those neighborhoods of people just trying to get buy, with no chic restaurants or heated clubs. The clothes that she had bought for herself – casual, sporty – also helped conceal her identity. Luckily for her, few – if any – of the people living in that area had ever read the story of Lana Luthor complete with pictures from when she had been in highschool that had run in the Daily Planet shortly after her marriage to Lex. It had been an exclusive Lex had insisted Lana gave Chloe.

_I promise to honor, love and respect you…Till death do us apart…I pronounce you husband and wife…You may kiss the bride…TILL DEATH DO US APART! Remember? Don't you remember! _

Lana startled awake and touched her neck with her hands. In her dreams, Lex had tried to choke her to death. She blinked until her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the lamp and then looked at the mountain of papers in frustration. She had gone through less than half of them and hadn't found out anything more than the fact Isobel's marriage to Lex didn't resemble a normal one. And her lovers, had been one too many. She tried to think of Isobel as a third person. With her own body that just happened look exactly like hers. It made her feel better somehow. Made her feel less used and dirty. Less embarrassed at what might – actually no, most definitely had – gone on between herself and Lex. Her face turned a deep shade of red even then just recalling what had happened the previous night.

_I almost forgot how your skin tastes. _He had whispered in her ear. And the way he had kissed her…No one had kissed her like that. And that very thought seemed somehow ridiculous while she was overlooking pictures of her kissing – much more fiercely, more passionately – men over men on the covers of dozens of tabloids._ I almost forgot how your skin tastes. _Still those words persisted in her mind and she had a sneaking suspicion she hadn't forgotten how his skin tasted.

Lana shook her head and focused on the newspapers. Lana Luthor, sleeping with the enemy? Lana Luthor in fabulous Rio…Asian dream: Lana Luthor and her latest conquest, Olympic athlete Xian Pei Pei…Lang Pharmaceuticals targets France as a possible new market…Lex and Lana Luthor enjoying a calm vacation on Paradise Island? Title after title after title with nothing new to say, only more things that made Lana grimace.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. She looked up startled. Who could it be? No one knew she was there and she had specified to the landlord – after paying for two months up front – that she didn't want to be disturbed. She stood up from the desk and grabbing a heavy candleholder – ancient, like everything about that place – she headed for the door. The knock persisted, anxious, losing its patience.

"Who is it?" she asked out loud.

"Open up, it's Chloe," a voice said from beyond the door.

"Is it really you?" Lana asked incredulous. She had completely given up on Chloe's help after the scene at the Daily Planet.

"Yeah, open up already, I feel like someone's gonna come out of the shadows and clubber me senseless for the 20 bucks I have in my purse," Chloe told her impatiently. Lana carefully opened each of the three locks and Chloe quickly came in. She locked the door behind her. As she did, Chloe looked around at the crummy apartment and said, amused:

"Now I know you can't be the real Lana Luthor," she chuckled. "She would've had a fit just seeing a place like this let alone live in one."

"That's weird considering Isobel came from the XVIIth century," Lana pointed out.

"Yeah, well, old Izzy got used to the good life Luthor money can buy," Chloe said with a smirk.

"How did you find me?" she asked gesturing for her to sit down on one of the two chairs she had in the apartment.

"I am a reporter after all," Chloe pointed out and opening her bag she held up a beautiful necklace. "Plus, you shouldn't go around pawning Lex's anniversary gifts," she threw it toward her. Lana easily caught it. "Might draw attention you don't want to yourself. You're lucky the man you brought it to thought it was a cheap copy of the original."

"It was expensive?" Lana asked uneasily looking at the necklace closely. It had a few gems she had considered to be simply decorative. She swallowed hard. Since when did Luthors have anything that was simply decorative?

"Expensive doesn't even cover it. Try mind-blowing, obscenely priced and you might come somewhere close to it," Chloe said and observed as Lana stared at the necklace with a sort of frightened look before putting it down on the bed carefully as if afraid she could ruin it by simply holding it. No, that was definitely not the Lana Luthor she knew. "You know Lex. Always thinks big. And it was your first wedding anniversary after all."

"We've been married how long? It's 2007 now, the meteor shower was in 2005…so 2 years?" Lana assumed.

"In a few weeks," Chloe nodded walking over to the desk and flipping through the papers Lana had put there. "Interesting reading material. Trying to catch up on 2 years of absence?"

"More like trying to find out what I've been doing," Lana admitted.

"Oh, I think it's safe to sum it up to illegal businesses, sex, drinks, glamour and Lex Luthor," Chloe said stopping on one particular paper. "I remember this. You and Johnny Calvesci ran off to Vegas for the weekend. Lex fumed over it for weeks."

"So does this mean you believe me now?" Lana asked anxiously.

"No, it means I'm willing to give you the benefit of doubt," Chloe told her. "I've seen Lana Luthor pull one too many tricks not to be suspicious. If what you're saying it's true, then I have nothing to worry about. If you're lying and this is just some sort of trick, I'll be keeping the Luthor family jewels as a down-payment to my lawyer which I'm most certainly going to need."

"You can keep it," she hurried to say looking back at the necklace uneasily. "I don't want it."

"Suit yourself," the reporter shrugged and grabbed the necklace off the bed. "It would be a shame though," she put the necklace in the lamp light. "If I had to sell it on the black market." Lana stared at the necklace enthralled by its surreal glimmer.

"Give me my fuking necklace back, you two-bit piece of sht reporter!" Lana suddenly yelled and lunged toward the necklace, but Chloe pulled it away.

"Ah, ah, Mrs. L, afraid it's currently in my safe keeping," she said putting it away.

"I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me," Lana apologized horrified that those words had come out of her mouth. She never talked like that.

"It's okay," she lifted her shoulders lightly. "You're probably having some instinctual reactions Isobel has imprinted your body with. I've been doing a little research these two days you were gone. About possession and so on. Apparently if a person's possessed long enough, the spirits leave behind a sort of residue. Things that were imprinted in their minds through repetition while they were alive. Like…well, there was this guy who hadn't rowed a boat in his life that – after he was possessed for like three months or so by his dead grandfather, who was a canoe Olympic champion back in the day – did it like a pro the first time he tried it. So some of Isobel probably rubbed off on you in two years."

"You really think that's possible?" she asked, not liking the idea one bit.

"Unfortunately," Chloe nodded. "Let's just hope it wasn't her sex drive."

"Oh, god," Lana muttered as Chloe opened her bag and pulled out a thick file:

"Here. I made you a little something. The short life of Lana Luthor in pictures, articles and a few notes," she extended it toward her. Lana took it with trembling hands and stared at the cover for a few moments. She didn't dare open it. She knew very well what waited for her inside.

_End Part 3_


	5. Part 4: Isobel LangLuthor

_**Part 4**_

_**Isobel Lang-Luthor**_

Lana stared at the open file a little hesitant. It had so many pictures, so many handwritten notes and postits that she was afraid to touch anything in case something might be misplaced within the file. The first pictures – Chloe had carefully organized everything by date – were of Lana after she had come to from her coma or whatever other state of utter unconsciousness she had slipped into. Some taken in Metropolis where Lex had been – as the notes stated – so kind as to give her shelter in an apartment of her own. Her clothes weren't very different from what Lana herself would have chosen to wear. Isobel had probably learnt from past mistakes. Revealing herself wouldn't have brought her any advantages except an early exorcism. She couldn't believe no one had noticed she had changed. Her aunt, Chloe, Lois…anyone. Lex especially should have known given they had apparently spent the last two years together. A nagging question made Lana uneasy: what if Lex had known? After the incident the previous night she was beginning to suspect Lex was very much aware that his wife's spirit hadn't been the right one occupying the body.

She came across the cover of Bride magazine showing her in – she had to admit – the most beautiful wedding dress she had ever set her eyes on. She didn't want to know how much it had cost. It was probably some sort of one-of-a-kind. In the article attached to the cover, Lana – Isobel – spoke of the joy of marrying Lex Luthor and her sudden change in feelings toward him.

"Well, Lex and I have known each other for years. My aunt's been a family friend of the Luthors for a long time so it was only natural I would come to know Lex. To tell you the truth, I haven't thought of him or haven't dared to think of him as more than a friend for some time because of the age difference, but after Smallville was destroyed – by his concern and how much he took care of me afterwards I could really tell there was something more in his affections for me. So I dared to believe. And here I am today," Lana read out loud as if hearing it would diminish the strangeness of it all.

"What a load of crap, huh?" Chloe asked.

"What, the part with him taking caring me?" Lana asked her.

"Oh, no, that part's true," she shook her head. "I was talking about the whole soap-operish feel."

"He took care of me?" she asked again, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Yeah, well, there wasn't really anyone else that could provide the services a Luthor could. And your condition was weird. Never heard of and all that," Chloe explained. "It wasn't an actual coma…it was more like you were sleeping, but you couldn't wake up. That's how some of the doctors put it. Lex never bought it though and he just kept bringing more and more doctors in," she recalled and then, staring at the cover of Bride magazine, she added, musing: "And the way he spent hours on end in your room, talking to you…That was the first time I realized Lex had a thing for you. Though it should've been obvious from before. I just never put two and two together," she chuckled. "I'm really starting to believe I turned out to be a two-bit reporter."

"No, you're a great reporter," Lana hurried to assure her. "You were just too preoccupied with other problems to have time to analyze your closest friends."

"And where did that get me? Up the wrong creek with a broken paddle," Chloe put away the cover of Bride magazine. "I always wanted to ask you, but, for obvious reasons, I haven't been able to ask you in the last two years…"

"Shoot," Lana said as she put away some articles similar to the one in Bride magazine in which her upcoming wedding with Lex was commented on. Some magazines had pictures with the two of them, not just her.

"Did you know about Lex before the meteor shower? About his feelings I mean," Chloe asked.

"I suppose I did. I tried hard to make myself believe it was just friendship on his side, but when that incident when he was split in half took place, it was the first time I realized how much I was deluding myself. I never told him about it. I thought…I don't know what I thought. That he'd get over it or something like that," Lana admitted.

"So you knew," Chloe said pensively. "Which means Isobel knew. Of course by the time you woke up, it was hard for anyone not to know…"

"Were you telling the truth when you said you don't know where Clark is?" Lana asked suddenly remembering their previous conversation.

"Yeah, he disappeared. He'd done it before, so at first I thought it was just another world famous Clark-Kent summer vanishing act and I was right. He came back for you. He was in your room for 2 minutes and you were awake. Then he was gone again. And that time it was for good. No one's seen him since. Anywhere. And I've been reading the entire world press like a maniac hoping I'd come across something so Clark I'd know it's him, like young man saves the day, rescues girl and then just disappears," she said smiling.

"And didn't I – Isobel – say anything?" she asked frustrated.

"You said he had to go. I couldn't get another word out of you. And then everyone kept telling me to stop it with the questions cause it was too painful for you so I stopped," she shrugged.

"Do you think Isobel might have harmed him? I know she didn't particularly like him," Lana recalled.

"I don't know. I've tried my best, but I'm either missing an important part of the puzzle or Clark's disappeared all by his own," she replied as Lana came across the wedding pictures and stared at them baffled.

Set in an exotic setting – what had it been? Bahamas? – it looked like a dream. Sandy beaches, sun setting in the background, flowers, everyone she ever knew, that beautiful wedding dress, she – smiling widely, with Lex's hand around her waist in a protective manner, he – tall, tastefully dressed and, if possible, looking like he was actually, genuinely, the happiest man alive. Would he have been so happy if he had known she was Isobel and not Lana?

"What happened to us?" she muttered as she stared at the picture intently. Chloe gave her a confused look. She hadn't heard her question the first time so Lana cleared her throat and then asked again: "What happened to us? To me and Lex?"

"His name was Sergio Precarrio," Chloe said pulling out a picture from the file. "You…uhm, Isobel and Lex met him while they were in Paris, about 5 or 6 months after they got married. He's what you'd call the Italian version of Lex. Rich, cocky, speed junky and not a particularly nice person. Add a little slickness and good ol' Italian charm to it and you'll understand why Isobel got hooked on him. Lex and Sergio got along brilliantly until Lex just happened to find out he was sleeping with his wife…"

"Did he, uhm, do something? To this Sergio or Isobel?" Lana asked looking at the handsome man smiling up at her from the picture.

"Let's just say Sergio had an unfortunate accident and is no longer among us," Chloe said, neglecting to tell her exactly how Sergio had been killed or the fact his head had been delivered to Isobel afterward and that that was how she had realized Lex knew about her little escapade. "As for Isobel…I don't exactly know what went down, but she covered her neck an awful long time afterward. There were rumors about the reasons for it, but nothing ever got confirmed so only the tabloids picked them up."

"And that's what started this whole thing?" she asked looking back at the stack of tabloids she had gathered, each one reporting her and Lex's affairs.

"Yeah, it's been pretty ugly ever since. Lex got pissed and slept with…uhm, some woman and then Isobel got pissed cause it was all over the papers and that's how you ended up here," Chloe explained.

"That's what kind of marriage we…they had?" Lana asked looking back at the wedding pictures.

"Not quite," she sighed. "I'll give you the short version. You and Lex fight, you continuously mock him, he takes it like a man until it's too much and he bursts into a tantrum of rage, then he begs for your forgiveness, you give in, you have some sort of wild sex thing, the next day you're on a plane to some exotic location. A week later, you're both back in Metropolis, cheating on each other like nothing happened." Lana didn't say anything, but continued to stare at the wedding pictures lost in thoughts.

In another part of Metropolis, still in his office, Lex was sitting in the darkness, staring out at the city before him. She hadn't left the city. His security people had checked every airport, every ticket that had been bought, every seat occupied in every plane that had headed out of Metropolis in the previous 5 days. She was somewhere in Metropolis. But where? He had had a very awkward and embarrassing conversation with Quentin Terrane that morning that Lana would have to pay for when she returned. At least now he was sure she wasn't hiding out with him or planning on leaving with him. Quentin hadn't seen Lana since the 'wonderful night she was his' as Quentin had put it. Florence was clueless and he had yelled at her for her incompetence. He had to remember to buy her flowers in the morning. His lawyers had suggested he calm down before people started suing him left and right for whatever mistakes his anger and frustration were letting him make. A shy knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he said and his secretary entered the office.

"Mister Luthor?" she asked squinting her eyes in the darkness.

"Yes, I'm here," he answered her rubbing his face tiredly. "What is it?"

"A package just arrived for you. It's labeled as urgent so I thought…," she said nervously.

"Leave it on the desk," he told her and returned to staring out the windows. The secretary left the envelope on his desk and quickly made her way out of the office. She didn't like being alone with him. Especially at night.

Lex didn't pay much attention to the envelope. He got a lot of urgent packages. Papers that needed to be signed yesterday, compromising pictures, people trying to blackmail him…So for a while he didn't open it, lost in his thoughts as he was. Then it suddenly dawned on him: the envelopes from the detectives watching Lana were labeled as urgent sometimes too. Quickly turning the lights on, he ripped the envelope open. Inside it he found a strange glass cube. If anyone else would've been thrown back or confused by it, Lex knew exactly what it was: a prototype for a new type of communication device based on holograms. Lana had been wild about them and Lang Pharmaceuticals had even become one of the project's main investors because of it. He pressed his finger on one side of the cube and a metallic voice said:

"Fingerprint recognition complete. Message for Alexander Luthor," and a translucent fan of light erupted from the cube before Lana's shimmering form appeared on it.

"If you're seeing this then it means I've been gone for 72 hours straight without you having the slightest clue as to where I am. If you're hoping this message will give you any hints as to where I might be, I'm sorry to disappoint you, I have no fuking clue where I am," Lana said smiling and then added: "If you're seeing this message although I haven't been missing, then woops, the couriers have screwed everything up and I'm probably going to be very mad about it. Anyway, since – hopefully - I'm gone, I thought you should know just what the hell I've been up to these last two years. You're entitled to know I suppose given you're my husband after all, Alexander."

Back at Lana's apartment, Chloe was laying out the articles concerning Lang Pharmaceuticals, most of which she herself was responsible for given no one else had dared touch such a delicate subject or risk angering the Luthors.

"Lang Pharmaceuticals was born about 2 months after you married Lex. The two factories plus the research labs were initially owned by a company highly indebted to Luthorcorp that Lex managed to take over. He gave you the company as a present. You changed the name to Lang Pharmaceuticals and invested a lot of money in the research facilities. 3 months later you tested an experimental drug for allergies on a few hundred subjects with some ghastly results. About 20 subjects died and it only worked like it was suppose to on 10 of them. A report concerning the tests was leaked to the press and you gave a public statement in which you swore the drug was tested prematurely against your will, that it would never reach the market in that form and that it would be perfected in the research labs. Problem was the research labs were already working on something else. Five months later, Lang Pharmaceuticals launched its anti-allergy pills without any modifications being added to its initial formula. I think you can guess yourself what happened."

"My god," Lana let out shocked.

"And that was just one of five drugs Lang Pharmaceuticals launched in its short life. The others included some highly addictive antidepressives, an unlikely replacement for insulin for diabetes and some brain damaging sleeping pills. Of course I could only get concrete material on the allergy pill thing. And even that was hard," she mused. "And now Lex…," she sighed. "He said the whole trial's been taken care of so Lang Pharmaceuticals' going to come out clean. I don't understand how he could've accepted all this so easily. I mean doesn't he care at all that people are dying out there because his wife's decided to play pharmacist? Cause that's what she's been doing: playing. She never thought about seriously making an effective drug. She just…," she shook her head: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so worked up. It's just…I've fought very hard to get this trial going and now to have it crushed by Lex just snapping his fingers…it just doesn't seem fair."

"Maybe he'll take the drugs off the market after the trial. I don't think he'd let something like this go on much longer even if it's simply to protect his reputation," Lana said.

"Did he say anything in that direction?" Chloe asked hopeful. "Do you remember him saying that?"

"Well, I've only talked to him twice since…uhm, since I came to, but both encounters were sort of, private?" she couldn't find a word that would better fit what she was trying to say.

"Of course you didn't. I keep forgetting who I'm talking to," she muttered more to herself. Then the meaning of her words sinking in, she asked: "Did you sleep with him?"

"No," she shook her head, but couldn't keep her face from becoming red.

"Lana Luthor, blushing, no there's something I never thought I'd see," Chloe said with a smirk. "But let me guess, he tried to sleep with you," she added and she nodded. "He's so predictable. When I saw him leaving the benefit I knew he was going straight to you."

"You were at the benefit?" Lana asked frowning.

"Yeah, the press always gets invited to these things and since I know Lex I always get shipped off to Luthorcorp related parties. Like I could, I don't know, get an exclusive out of him because we knew each other in another life and he still says hello to me on the street," Chloe scoffed.

"Did he have a bad time?" she asked.

"Horrible. He's always miserable when you're not around," she said. "And I'll tell you a secret. I think he's sleeping with all these women just so people won't start pitying him or thinking he's a chump for letting his wife sleep around while he's being fateful."

_End Part 4_


	6. Part 5: Anger and Luthors go hand inhand

_**Part 5**_

_**Anger and Luthors go hand in hand**_

By the time he received the call he was already pissed and packing a couple of whiskies. He had tried to calm himself down by drinking. It hadn't worked. He had paced and paced around his office until dawn had slowly crept up beyond Metropolis' skyscrapers. He hadn't slept at all that night and it hadn't helped his mood much. He had yelled at his secretary, yelled at anyone who had dared come near him. And now the phone dared to ring.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently as he picked it up. It had rung ten times and no one had answered it. His secretary had resigned – or more likely fled – the previous night and had not returned to her post. All his calls went directly to his office now.

"Mr. Luthor?" a tired voice asked at the other end of the line.

"What do you want?" he spat out irritated.

"It's Sanches. I think we might've located your wife," the man said. "It was a good idea to have that reporter followed. She tried to give us the slip a few times and we let her believe she succeeded…"

"Where is she?" he cut him off abruptly.

Across Metropolis, in the middle of Lana's apartment, Chloe sat cross-legged on the floor in the middle of a mess of pictures and newspaper clippings. She had called in sick that day from the Daily Planet. She had found that she actually enjoyed telling Lana about what had happened in the last two years and she was slowly, but surely, starting to actually believe this was the real Lana she was talking to and that Mrs. Luthor had been nothing but a bad dream made up by a crazy witch's spirit.

"Lois says why not? So we go inside the locker room and there's the quarterback getting higher than a kite on liquid na…," her story was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. She quickly stood up: "Must be the pizza."

"Could you get it? My hands are all wet," Lana yelled at her from the small kitchen, but Chloe was already at the door.

"You better have a good excuse for being late cause there are two very hungry ladies here that…," she choked on her words when she saw Lex standing in the doorway. "Lex! What a surprise! What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Where is she?" Lex asked on a dead serious tone.

"Where's who?" she tried to play it cool, but her eyes couldn't help but wonder toward the back of the apartment where the kitchen was.

"I don't feel like playing games, Chloe," he said impatient.

"Well, see the truth is…," she slammed the door shut in his face and struggled to lock it up as fast as she could as she yelled toward Lana: "Get out of here!"

"What were you saying?" Lana asked coming out of the kitchen drying her hands on a towel just as Lex shoved the door open and grabbing Chloe by the arm pushed her out of the apartment and then closed the door behind her.

"Lex! Let me in! LEX!" Chloe yelled banging on the door like crazy.

"How did you find me?" Lana asked uneasily as she put the towel away. "I really thought I covered all my tracks."

"You did. She didn't," he gestured toward the door Chloe could still be heard furiously banging on. His impatience was obvious and the fury in his eyes far too burning for her not to notice.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you I was leaving," she apologized.

"I was worried sick," he said as he started pacing in front of her.

"I just…had to get out of there as fast as I could," she explained. "And if you're here to take me back, I won't go with you."

"Fortunately for you then, I'm not here to ask you to come back. I'm here to hear some explanations," he sat down in one of the armchairs and pulled out the glass cube he had received the previous night by special delivery. Lana stared at it confused. She had no idea what it was. "Well?"

"It's…uhm…," she picked up the cube and turned it on all sides. It had a tiny little mouse - burnt with a laser probably - in one of its corners. It looked like a plain glass cube to her… "A diamond?" she guessed because she really couldn't understand how he could be mad about some glass cube. He laughed dryly.

"Very funny."

When she didn't say anything, he went on:

"I don't know exactly where you were planning on going or disappearing for good to, but apparently 72 hours were an obvious overestimation on your side because here you are."

"What are you talking about?" she asked more and more confused as Chloe was attempting to break the door down with a fire extinguisher.

"You know very well what's on that thing!" Lex said standing up abruptly and pointing at the cube enraged. "I can't believe you could've hidden something like that from me!" He stared at her awaiting an answer, but she just looked down at the floor, not knowing what to tell him. She had no idea what he was talking about and telling him that would've only made him madder so after a few moments of silence she suddenly remembered to ask him something she desperately wanted to know:

"Are you going to be closing down Lang Pharmaceuticals after the trial?"

"What?" he looked at her incredulously. "Is that what all this is about? Lang Pharmaceuticals? Jesus! You know I won't shut it down unless you want me to. You can kill as many people as your sick little heart desires. I don't care."

"How can you be so coldhearted?" Lana asked coolly.

"Coldhearted," he repeated scoffing. "This, coming from you?"

"I would never let people die if I could do something to stop it!" she protested, mentally knowing however that he was right. There wasn't a word harsh enough in the English language that could describe what Isobel had made of her.

"Do you want to know the exact body count? It's in one of those many reports you like to torch without reading," Lex told her with a smirk. Since when did she start acting so righteous to him who knew every nasty little detail of her dirty businesses? Well, he had thought he had known everything up until a few hours ago anyway.

"Want to know yours?" she asked in a chilling voice that reminded Lex of the wife he had shared a bed with for the last two years. She chuckled: "Of course you don't. You like to forget you ever killed anyone, but newsflash, Lex, the bodies are pilling up in the basement and you won't be able to keep that door closed forever." Then Lana blinked and looked around the room confused. What had just happened? What was she saying? What was Lex saying?

"At least I don't go around killing innocent people for the fun of it," he replied dryly. "Now tell me what the hell this is all about, Isobel."

"You know," she muttered shocked.

"Don't you play smug with me," he suddenly said misinterpreting her words and picking up the glass cube threw it in the wall behind Lana, shattering it into a million pieces. Lana's heart was beating faster. She had closed her eyes instinctively thinking Lex had actually tried to hit her with the cube. "Now, tell me," Lex added in the end.

"I really don't know what that is…," she said looking back at the shattered cube.

"How could you not know what it is?" he asked exasperated. "You've been funding the researchers since they came up with the concept."

"I don't know," she repeated and then added, looking at the door: "Now, please leave and let Chloe back in." Lex stared at her suspiciously for a few moments. Where was the hysteria, the screams, the hitting? His wife had broken half a dozen ancient Chinese vases trying to hit him… Then it suddenly occurred to him: "Lana?" he asked and his voice had the slightest tremor in it. At that moment the door finally opened and Chloe entered the apartment thanking the landlord for letting her back in. She stared from Lex to Lana and from Lana to Lex. Then, clearing her throat, Lana repeated her request:

"Please leave."

Still in shock, Lex walked out the door in silence, not bidding either one of the two women farewell.

"He knew," Lana said once he was gone and Chloe had closed the door behind him.

"About Isobel?" Chloe asked raising her eyebrows in surprise. She had really thought Lex was clueless to the switch as she couldn't imagine him settling for anything less than the real Lana Lang.

"Yes," Lana said. "And now he knows it's me."

"As in you you?" she asked and Lana nodded. "Now I know why he looked like the sky just fell on him. Did he want anything in particular or was he just here to take you back home?"

"He wanted me to explain something about a glass cube. It was kinda weird," she looked back at the shattered cube.

"Did the cube happen to have a tiny little mouse logo in a corner?" she asked thinking she knew what the cube was.

"Yeah, I think it did," she recalled the sign.

"Oh, crap," she let out looking at the glass shards with regret. She kneeled next to them and picked up some of the bigger pieces.

"What is it?" Lana asked confused.

"It's called Cubicon X, it's this new tech Lang Pharmaceuticals' been backing research on," Chloe explained. "One of the things it can do is record holographic messages in what appear to be simple glass cubes. The little mouse is the logo of LWM research facilities."

"LWM?" she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Little White Mouse," she explained with a smile. "The people there are pretty okay. If I didn't know Luthors and their ulterior motives so well I'd say it's the only good thing Isobel ever did."

"You think it's tied in with everything else?" Lana asked staring at the shattered cube, regretting not saving it in front of Lex's anger.

"Don't make it sound like it's some big conspiracy…," Chloe started saying, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence. "You don't think Isobel might have been up to something, do you?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Though I really don't see how she'd just satisfy herself with being Mrs. Lex Luthor. It wouldn't be like her."

"Yeah, I did think she might've tried to get her powers back a few times after you brought up the possibility of Isobel taking you over," she pointed toward a pile of articles. "I mean she stayed in Paris an awful long time and there were rumors of her buying all kind of old stuff from private collectors. Of course since she slept with half of said collectors, it's needless to say the fine press focused on the sex."

"But she didn't manage to get them back," Lana concluded.

"Not that I know of, but then again Mrs. Luthor's a real life witch wouldn't sound very plausible on the front page of any paper, not even a tabloid," Chloe pointed out.

On the edge of Metropolis' industrial area, in the basement of one of Luthorcorp's factories, Lex paced nervously from one side of the room to the other.

"I don't understand how this could've happened. I mean one moment she's Isobel and then suddenly it's Lana standing in front of me and looking at me like I'm a monster," he sighed and ran his hand over his scalp. "Jesus! If she woke up now…what is she going to think? What is she thinking? It's been two years…I lost all hope and now…suddenly…without a warning…," his voice faded out and he stared at the floor for a second before resuming his pacing. "It's her. Lana. I've imagined it so many times, but never like this. It was always when we were making love. And she'd look at me and say Lex and I'd know it's her…," he stopped and then abruptly picked up his sentence: "I wonder how long she's been back," he thought back to the last few days. "It must be..," he recalled the incident in her apartment. "More than four days ago. That's plenty of time for her to have found out more than she should've. I bet Chloe helped. She knew. She was there in the apartment too. She lied to me. I shouldn't have expected her to be honest. It's been a while since we've been on friendly terms after all," he paused for a moment staring at the wall. "Is she ever going to forgive me for letting Isobel do all those things to her? Is she ever going to forgive me for all the things_ I_ did to her? She shouldn't have found out anything without me by her side explaining everything. Now she's going to get everything wrong. There are some things – most things – that she couldn't get any way but wrong, but I could've put them in a better way than Chloe," he rubbed his face tiredly and then stared at the tank in the middle of the room: "How on earth are we going to explain everything to her?" he asked the unconscious form of Clark Kent floating in a green liquid inside the tank.

_End Part 5 _


	7. Part 6: Extreme Measures

Author's note: Sorry for the delayed update, but I had exams. The parts of the text that are both in italics and underlined are Lana's thoughts.

_**Part 6**_

_**Extreme Measures**_

"_Lana…Lana…" a voice whispered and she heard it as if it was coming from somewhere very far away. A blinding light shone high above her. Something flew toward it and the voice it contained within it. But that something wasn't her. It had been something else. Or someone else? Then she blinked and she saw a white ceiling and her lips were moving, but she wasn't the one speaking the words coming off them._

"_I was so scared." Liar. "In the darkness, Clark, you were my only light." Ha. "The only thing that's kept me alive so long was the hope you'd rescue me." My god, who was this girl and how could she make up such pretty lies? "What I told you…it's still valid. I love you." Clark, get away. The door's lock closed with an empty sound. He was staring in her eyes, didn't hear it. Clark, don't close your eyes. Clark, don't kiss her. Too late. She smiled. She had him. He took her kiss, took her lips…Sure, ignore the knocking, ignore the green light that passes from her lips to yours. It's killing you. She hates you because you've ruined everything. Four centuries of well planned omnipotence and you destroyed it all. She wants you dead. Suddenly, he opened his eyes. Now you feel it. He broke away stumbling just as the door was forced open. Chloe stood in the doorway, looking at him funny. Where have you been, Clark Kent? her eyes seemed to ask. Then he was gone, jumped out through the window. How did you survive that fall, Clark? Maybe you didn't. The thing is Chloe doesn't seem shocked or surprised or worried. Somehow, she knows you're all right. Then she turned toward her. That's what surprised her. The body was awake. Without Lana Lang in it. She asked her: where did he go? She simply told her he had to go. And that was it. Then **he** showed up. Ran toward the bed. Put his hands on her face. _

"_You're awake," he whispered. No. In the back, Chloe looked like she was feeling awkward, like she had interrupted two long lost lovers finding themselves. She made a quick exit. Fade out. Lana Lang, where are you? Where am I? Lana Lang, answer me, damn it!_

She startled awake. In her hands, she still had the wedding pictures. Another day gone by. Another strange dream. The same desire for everything to go away. To turn the clock back two years. This time though, the harsh reality sank in faster than it had before and it didn't feel as surreal and impossible anymore.

"Hey, you're awake," Chloe popped her head out from the kitchen.

"Did I oversleep?" she asked searching for a clock somewhere in the room.

"You don't exactly have anywhere you need to be," she pointed out and gestured toward a pile of newspapers on the table. "I went out and got them fresh off the press."

"It's noon?" Lana asked staring incredulous at a watch she had finally come across.

"Yeah, Isobel was a late sleeper. Mostly because of all those late nights on the town…Your metabolism's probably grown a habit out of it," she said.

"Then tomorrow, I'm waking up at 8. See if I can kick the habit," Lana said determined. "I'd like to get rid of as much of the damage Isobel's done as I can."

"It's funny," she chuckled. "You know how many reporters managed to run their stories just because Mrs. Luthor was sleeping when the papers hit the streets? Sure, there'd be hell to pay afterwards, but just that awesome feeling you managed to get something passed her…"

"It's that what happened with the Lang Pharmaceuticals expose?" Lana caught on.

"Oh, yeah, it was such a rush. Perry and me kept it under the wraps until the last second. We felt like we were the CIA or the FBI. Ever tried printing a magazine at 5 AM by candle light?" she laughed. "It was crazy, but we pulled it off. And the look on her face when she saw it…it was worth it."

"Talking about newspapers. Aren't you going to get in trouble for missing from work?" she asked.

"I went by the office this morning. They think I'm working on some huge story. Undercover. Very hush-hush," she chuckled. "They're used to it. I disappear for three days and when I get back, wam, I got a Pulitzer award winning article on my hands."

"Good," she smiled. "I'd rather have you here with me. Makes me feel…saner."

"That's what I'm here for," she said and then asked after a moment: "About the damage Isobel's done and how much of it you can fix…have you thought about what you're going to do about Lex?"

"Do about him?" she asked confused. She didn't understand what she meant by it.

"Are you going to divorce him?" she made herself more clear.

"Divorce him?" she repeated. For some reason that very idea seemed so far fetched from everything she had thought about until then. She thought it was strange. Sounded like the most natural thing after all. The first big step into undoing Isobel's actions. So why did her stomach clench just at the thought?

"You can't do it, can you?" she smirked as she headed back in the kitchen. "I was afraid of this," she yelled. "Remember what I said about things that can get imprinted through repetition because of the whole possession thing?"

"Does that mean Isobel actually loved Lex?" she asked not really finding that theory plausible.

"In her own twisted, freakish way, yeah," Chloe returned to the room with a plate of food she handed Lana. "Unless of course…you have feelings for Lex."

"I…," she frowned. "It's strange. I can't seem to separate anything I feel from what Isobel felt. Or whatever she left inside me. Or this body feels…"

"Weird," she said and tried not to seem too worried. Her mind however instantly raced to the possibilities of what it could all mean: Isobel repossessing Lana, Lana becoming Isobel, Lana gaining all of Isobel's memories…"So does that mean you know how Isobel felt for Lex?"

"No as much. It's like the idea of not having him there is unconceivable. Like getting rid of him would be the last thing I'd think about. Separated. Living in different apartments. Different cities. Countries. But he has to be there…Does that make sense?" she asked and stared down at her plate.

"A little. Having someone around as much as Lex has been around you the last two years can leave a mark," she shrugged.

"Yeah, but he wasn't around me," she pointed out. "He was around Isobel and he was aware of that."

"How can I explain it? Say a woman goes into a coma not knowing she's pregnant. Let's say the doctors manage to keep the baby alive and bring him into the world. The baby's taken away. When the woman wakes up, she instinctually knows something's missing. See where I'm trying to get at?"

"Back to instincts then? What my body's gotten used to over two years?" she sighed. "Thank god she didn't start smoking."

"I also took the shards to the guys from LWM. They said there might be a chance to at least partially reconstruct the message. They were really friendly about it. And since Isobel isn't around to tell them not to, I think we might find out something about it in the next couple of days," she told her.

"When exactly did you wake up?" Lana asked with a smirk

"7 AM. Work habit," she shrugged. "I also heard some things about Lex. Rumor has it he's been drowning himself in work since his little visit here yesterday. He hasn't even left the Luthorcorp factories for dinner, breakfast or lunch. Thank god nothing got leaked to the media about your whereabouts!"

"He probably didn't tell anyone," she brushed it off.

In the industrial area, in the basement of Luthorcorp, Lex looked at the stack of files that had been brought to him and sighed.

"So it's true?" he asked the scientist that had brought them.

"Afraid so, Mr. Luthor. Down to the last syllable," the man told him nodding.

"How could this have happened without any of you realizing it?" he asked annoyed.

"She was smart about it. Split the work up so that individually none of us would think anything was out of the ordinary," he explained.

"How much time do we have left?" he asked rubbing his face tiredly.

"I'd say she could set it off anytime. But she's missing one vital ingredient," he pointed out looking over his shoulder at the tank Clark was kept inside.

"I want all her access keys overwritten. She doesn't get in with any excuse," he told him.

"But sir, didn't you say your wife's, uhm, double personality is acting up?" the scientist reminded him. "If her current personality is the non-aggressive one she probably has no idea what her worse half has been working on. So she'd have no reason to attempt to free the specimen."

"Not for Isobel's reasons," he closed his eyes. "Clark Kent was one of her closest friends. I'm sure she'll try to find him…"

"Are we talking about the other personality now, sir?" the scientist asked confused by now. When Lex Luthor had showed up in his lab with the crazy story of his wife having a split personality, he had thought he had finally lost it. When he had been handed the file containing Mrs. Luthor's secret plans, he didn't think it was so crazy anymore. But he had to admit to himself, he wished Lex Luthor had walked into any other lab but his.

"What are the odds of two personalities knowing the same information?" he ignored his question.

"Well, studies show that the made-up personality is usually conscious of there being a secondary persona and because of it can access the information the original…," he started explaining, but Lex interrupted him:

"So if the person's original psyche is aware of the existence of a secondary one, it's possible that the stocked information would become available to it too?" he asked on a worried tone.

"It's possible yes," he nodded.

"That'll be all for now," Lex told him with a weak smile and gestured for him to leave.

"Yes, sir," he left in a hurry.

"Christ," he muttered to himself when he was alone. So if possession worked like a double personality, then it was possible – very possible, too possible – that Lana would start remembering that had happened during the last two years…Isobel remembered everything concerning Lana's life so why wouldn't Lana remember everything about Isobel's life in her body?

_You know what you told her, did to her, that time you got split in two_? Her laughter still rang in his ears as it had while they were lying in bed then. _What did you really want to say – do – to her when she was infected by that flower? Come on, Lex…I'll let you do it now if you tell me…_

Unfortunately for him, that implied a world of things he didn't want Lana to find out… All the dirty little things he had let her do to him. Asked her to do…In the office… At parties…At the mansion…At their engagement party with only a wall separating them from the Sullivans, the Kents and Smallville's finest. He hadn't felt guilt about any of them, because it had been Isobel…Isobel who was cocky and liked to play games – mind games were her favorites – she liked to dominate and with that body, Lex had let himself be dominated willingly. What if Lana found out what he had done to her after finding out about her affair with Sergio? What if she found out about his first mistress? What if she found out how Isobel had gotten Lang Pharmaceuticals? What she had promised him and then so cruelly denied him?

No, he had to stop it somehow… One option was to get Isobel back, but he didn't even want to consider that…Not now that Lana was back, like he had wished it so many times. A little part of him was conscious of the fact Lana would probably hate him once she would find out everything and then he would have nothing. Not even the body. Not even Isobel's soul and Lana's warm embrace…And even if by some miracle she wouldn't wind up hating him, all she would have to offer him would be her friendship. And that was even worse than hate. To be around her again, hear her, watch her, but never ever touch her again…he couldn't live with that idea. So in the end, if he had to choose between not having her at all and having what he had had for two years - Isobel and Lana's body – could he really deny himself her touch? After all, when they were making love – or that was what he had imagined they were doing anyway – it didn't matter that it was Isobel. To him, then, she was always Lana. His Lana. Lana in his arms. Isobel had always mocked him for it.

He wished he knew what was going on in her head. Isobel had always been very careful as to never reveal the true nature Lana's feelings for him at the time of the second meteor shower. It was the ace she kept up her sleeve. Like that, he would never attempt to bring back Lana. In their arguments though, she liked to use her name to hurt him. _No wonder little Lana was so horrified by your potential intentions_. _You're a such a pervert. Wanting to fuck a highschool girl. What did it for you, Lex? Was it the cheerleading outfit? _

He couldn't make a decision. Not yet. For now he had to take care of another problem. He had to make sure Isobel's plans wouldn't come through. And that implied he had to keep Lana away from Clark. As he checked his watch and headed for the door, he lied to himself that the solution he had found was the only viable one. He'd have to lock up Lana. And it didn't matter it was in his apartment either. It was for her own safety and the entire city's. Isobel's plans couldn't become a reality.

Back in Lana's apartment, Chloe was busy explaining the circumstances under which Luthorcorp had taken over the factories now belonging to Lang Pharmaceuticals, but Lana's mind was wondering elsewhere. She was thinking about her dream. It had seemed so real. Like she had been the witness of a parody she had been helpless to stop.

"Chloe, tell me exactly what happened when I woke up," she interrupted Chloe's explanations.

"Clark appeared out of nowhere. You woke up. He was gone," the reporter simply told her.

"Did you see him before he came into my room or after?" she asked.

"When he was in your room. He closed the door to make sure he wasn't going to be disturbed while he did whatever he did to wake you up. Lex freaked out when he saw it was closed, but while he went looking for a key, I used a little reporter ingenuity and opened the door. That's when I saw Clark," she explained.

"Did he look okay? Did you talk to him?" she went on.

"No, he kinda ran off. Jumped out the window actually," she said.

"And he survived the fall?" she seemed surprised.

"Yeah, somehow he did," she said chuckling. "Tell me, Lana, has it never really occurred to you that Clark was just…a little bit special?"

"Actually…," she started saying, but just as she did, there was a knock on the door. The two women shared a look.

"Who is it?" Chloe asked nearing the door carefully.

"It's Joe Stevens, the landlord," a man's muffled voice answered.

"I already paid the rent for three months," Lana whispered toward Chloe.

"What is it?" Chloe asked him.

"It's about the gas pipes. There was a leak in one of them. I'm having someone check the entire system to make sure there aren't more," he yelled. "We need to check your apartment too."

"Okay, but…," Chloe opened the door and a round sphere was thrown inside above her. "What the…" The sphere suddenly started to smoke. Someone pulled the door away from Chloe and closed it shut. She tried to open it, but the door seemed to have been closed with a key from the outside. The smoke filled the room, making her and Lana cough. "We have to get something to open it…" she told Lana as she searched the room for a heavy object.

"Get something…," Lana repeated and managed to take two steps away before collapsing on the floor.

"Lana…Lana…," Chloe tried to wake her up but her own eyes were slowly closing and she soon lost consciousness too.

_End Part 6 _


	8. Part 7: Trapped

_**Part 7 **_

_**Trapped**_

_The scotch in his glass was translucent, dark, alluring. He had that smirk on his face. That smirk that had been typical for him for as long as she could remember him. _

"_I should've know from the first minute," he mused as he looked back at her. "I suppose I just didn't want to believe it."_

"_You do love deluding yourself," she spoke through her mouth again and she was powerless to stop her. What was she doing perched up on his desk? Crossing her legs and leaning back for? And why on earth was she wearing **that**? _

"_Occasionally," he admitted tilting his head ever so slightly. For a moment his icy blue gaze settled on her legs, then he blinked and stared in her eyes. His moment of wondering hadn't escaped her though. She smirked._

"_It's an easy bargain, Alexander," she said jumping off the desk. "You want this body. I want the world."_

"_Fair trade," he muttered under his breath before emptying the glass of scotch. _

"_I also offer you something you've been wanting for a while," she added with a wicked smile._

"_And what's that?" he asked raising his eyebrows._

"_The head of Clark Kent," she answered smiling devilishly._

She startled awake and her head felt like it weighed a couple of tones. She fell back onto the pillows. Pillows. She frowned. There weren't that many pillows on the bed in the apartment. Or the couch. She stood up, leaning on her elbows. Dizziness and a sensation of nausea filled her senses. She tried to chase them away and looked around the room she was in. It was huge. Well furnished, modern, rich. What was the last thing she remembered? She was in her apartment with Chloe and the landlord had wanted to check the gas pipes and then…something rolled into the room and then…then…nothing. Her mind was a big blur. She had a massive blank. And now she was…somewhere else. Could Isobel have taken her over again? Or had she been abducted?

She got out of bed and stumbled toward the door. She had feared it would be closed, but surprisingly, it wasn't. She left the room and leaned on the wall in the hallway, feeling like she was about to collapse. She heard a muffled voice in the distance. Taking a deep breath, she headed in the direction it was coming from. She found herself in a spacious living room with Lex pacing a few feet away from her with a scotch glass in one hand and holding a cell in his other. He was talking to someone on the phone:

"This had to be done yesterday! No, I will not accept any kind of excuses from you or any of your men! Do you understand what's at stake here, doctor?" he sighed. "Good. I don't want any more blunders. I'm going to…" he noticed Lana leaning on the wall, with her eyes half-open and rushed to her side before she collapsed on the floor. He helped her to the couch and only then returned to the person he had been talking to. "Yes, I'm still here…Get back to me after you've done your job right," he ended the call and crouched down in front of the couch. "Are you all right?"

"Where…," she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where am I?"

"You're in my apartment," he said calmly, touching her cheek lightly.

"What…why…," she pulled away from his touch. Her head felt heavy.

"Don't force yourself," he urged her gently. "The sedatives haven't quite worn off yet."

"Sedatives…," she repeated as her eyes closed, but this time she didn't open them again. She had fallen asleep. He caressed her hair lovingly and then took her in his arms and back into the bedroom. He laid her down onto the bed gently and laid a kiss on her forehead. He watched her for a few moments. Lana Lang. The real Lana Lang. He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly, then hearing his phone ring in the living room where he had left it, he stood up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Back at Lana's apartment, Chloe had an unpleasant awakening. She was lying on the floor and her jaw felt sore and she had dried blood on her chin. She had probably hit her chin and bit her lip when she had fallen. And as she struggled to scamper to her feet, she realized she was awfully dizzy and had a monster headache.

"Uhh," she let out as she winced in pain and made her way to the bathroom. "Daily Planet New Year's Eve party redux," she muttered to herself as she splashed cold water on her face. She hadn't been in such a bad state since Daily Planet's annual New Year's Eve party when she had had a little bit too much to drink and had woken up the next day feeling like she was dying and not remembering most of the things she had done. Monday at work, she had gotten a standing ovation. She didn't want to know what that had been for.

She returned to the living room and inspected it. Obviously, Lana was gone. The question was who took her. She tried to piece together the puzzle, but her mind was still too Swiss-cheesed to be able to function properly.

"Okay, coffee. Coffee first. Machiavellian machinations later," she told herself and headed for the kitchen.

"_He looks good in green," she said leaning closer to the tank to stare at the unconscious person within it. _

"_It keeps him unconscious," he said pacing behind her. She looked back at him. _

"_Don't be so nervous, Alexander," she told him amused. "This is what you wanted after all."_

"_No, I didn't want this," he gestured toward the tank._

"_Then what? You wanted him to tell you? If you're thinking that could've ever happened you're out of your mind," she chuckled. "With the naughty way you've been behaving?" she neared him and dangerously invaded his private space._

"_Stop it," he said pulling away._

"_Oh, come on, Lex, we're getting married or did that escape your elusive mind?" she asked and added smiling after a moment: "Don't tell me you're getting soft on me. Your conscience eating away at you and yelling: it's wrong, Lex, it's wrong!" she said on a mocking voice. "Too late to be playing boy scout. You got the alien in a tank," she knocked on tank's glass and then added: "And heading straight toward fucking Smallville's princess without her consent. Playing hero with a conscience now is like a bad joke. Met by a dead silence."_

"_No," he said, but it was obvious her words had been a direct hit. "I'm still trying to get used to the idea. Of actually being allowed to touch you."_

"_Really?" she asked pulling him closer to her by the tie. "Then we should fix that," she kissed him and at first he was hesitant – like his words… what had happened to him? What Lex Luthor wanted, he took, but he had never taken Lana Lang – and then, letting some of his frustration seep into the kiss, pinned her on the tank's glass wall and ravished her. Over his shoulder, reflecting itself into the glass door, she saw him leaned over her, and behind them, in the tank, the unconscious form of Clark Kent. _

"Clark!" she stood up abruptly in the bed, but the movement had been too fast and her headache made itself known to her again. She saw Lex sitting down in an armchair next to the bed with a thick file in his lap. "What did you do to him! Where…what…" but the dream was quickly becoming a blur. The words faded away along with the faces and she had only a vague recollection of it.

"What did I do to whom?" he asked calmly raising his eyebrows. Of course he had heard what she had cried out. But one of the things he had to make sure of now that he was aware of Isobel's intentions was never letting Lana find Clark.

"I saw a tank. There was someone inside it. Someone I knew," she told him breathing heavily. "And I…I was the one that put him there."

"It was just a dream," he tried to brush it off although in truth, she – well, Isobel – was actually responsible for what had happened to Clark. He wondered how long he would be able to keep up the charade. It was obvious Isobel's memories were recurring to her through her dreams. He had heard her muttering their wedding vows in her sleep after she had been brought there. _Till death do us apart then, Isobel_, he thought to himself bitterly and wondered how long Isobel had planned to keep him alive after the completion of her plans. How could he have been so blind? Because she had played him so well. She had attacked him where he was most vulnerable . Had distracted him with all her affairs and first page scandals. Now, he thought even the Lang Pharmaceuticals trial had been a diversion maneuver. He sighed, but couldn't help admiring Isobel's ingenious plans. Who could've thought she had it in her? And here he had been, thinking she was just some powerless 17th century witch looking for the good life and a little power play. How much he had underestimated her.

"No, it wasn't!" Lana protested. "I've been having nothing but these nightmares since I came back. It's like Isobel's…"

"Still inside your mind?" he asked raising his eyebrows. "That's because she still is. That's the reason I brought you here for. To make sure she can't do anything to harm you again."

"So you can keep an eye on me, you mean," she said suspicious.

"It's for your own safety," he assured her.

"You can't keep me locked up in here," she protested.

"You're not locked up," pointed out with a thin smile. The room wasn't closed, but she'd have trouble getting out of the apartment and the building without his consent.

"I'm free to go then?" she asked him.

"I was thinking how strange all this must be to you," he avoided to answer her question. "Waking up in Metropolis. Not knowing where you are…" he sighed and stood up. "You need your rest. I have to go take care of some things, but I'll see you later."

"Lex…," she called out to him before he left the room. He turned back toward her. "I want you to do something for me."

"Name it," he said with a smile.

"Can you shut down Lang Pharmaceuticals?" she asked nervously and after a moment of hesitation added: "F-for me?"

"I'm sorry, I can't," he said shaking his head.

"But…," she started saying distressed, but he interrupted her:

"It's not that I don't want to, but I don't have any sort of power over it anymore. Isobel's transferred everything on her name. Your name," he explained.

"Does that mean I can shut it down? Will you let me go just to do…whatever it is I have to do to shut it down?" she asked.

"You can't do it either," he told him matter-of-factly.

"But…you just said it's all on my name," she reminded him.

"Yes," he nodded. "But Isobel's gone to great lengths to make sure no one but she can terminate Lang Pharmaceuticals. We're talking passwords and complicated procedures. The only way you could shut it down would be if you had all her memories. Which you don't."

"Then turn the trial's outcome around. Make Lang Pharmaceuticals lose and let the courts forcefully shut it down," she suggested.

"I can't," Lex said sighing. Isobel had done one banged up job at tying his hands behind his back. "If Lang Pharmaceuticals falls it will take Luthorcorp down with it. And I can't allow that. It would mean inviting disaster into my company."

"And there's nothing we…you can do about it?" she asked frustrated.

"No, I'm sorry," he shook his head. "Lang Pharmaceuticals will start mass-producing its drugs globally as early as next month."

"Oh, god," she covered her mouth with her hand.

"I'm going to try to attack the drugs through the American Health Committee and organize a publicity campaign against its products funded through a shadow corporation. In time, without Isobel, the company will die," Lex assured her. "Now get some rest," he suggested and left the room.

Alone, Lana couldn't help but feel uneasy. Global mass production. How many people were going to die because of those drugs? The drugs Isobel had launched on the market. That _she_ had launched on the market. No, she'd have to put an end to it. Somehow. For some reason she found herself wondering where Clark was.

"Hmm, green always looked good on him," she muttered and frowned. Where had she heard that before? And why had she felt the urge to say it?

Across Metropolis, freshened up by a gigantic cup of coffee, Chloe was reanalyzing the facts. She had concluded that what had come out from the sphere thrown inside the apartment had been knock-out gas. A brief analysis of her current condition. The headache. The speed at which the gas had worked. She chuckled to herself, if you were a good enough journalist, you were bound to run into every nauseous gas on the planet from tear gas to knock-out gas to the more deadly poisonous types if someone wanted something kept secret really badly.

As far as the person behind Lana's abduction was concerned, she was having doubts. So many people wanted Lana Luthor dead, tortured or evaporated. It could have been a number of people from competing pharmaceutical companies Mrs. Luthor hadn't exactly treated fairly to the 100.000 complainants involved in the Lang Pharmaceutical trial. But knock-out gas? She sighed as she fiddled around with the cup in front of her. She then recalled the landlord having talked to her through the door. Lana had recognized him as the real deal and that meant he had seen whoever had taken Lana away. Smiling, she got out of the apartment and headed for the landlord's apartment.

She knocked insistently a couple of times.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" a voice yelled after a few moments and then the door cracked open. When he saw who it was he wanted to shut the door in her face, but Chloe had been quicker and shoved the door open and entered his apartment. "Get out or…or I'll call the police!"

"Calm down, chubby, I just want to know who took my friend," Chloe told him. "And don't try anything cause I know jujitsu."

"Yeah, sure…," he said skeptical.

"You'd be amazed how many self-protection classes journalists are sent to," Chloe said with a smirk. "Now, who took my friend?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "They said they were from some special police unit, that your friend had problems with the law…I didn't want any trouble here so I did what they asked me to do."

"Special police unit," she shook her head. If she had a nickel for every time she had heard that phrase in Metropolis, she would've been filthy rich by then. But whose 'special police unit' had it been this time? "What kind of uniforms did they have?"

"Black. All black. Big guns," the landlord hurried to say.

"Machine guns or hand guns?" she asked.

"I don't know, lady, I don't know much about guns," he told her.

"Okay…did you see any of their faces?" she went on. The man shook his head.

"There was one thing that was peculiar about them," he recalled just now. "They had these funny communication devices. Like they were made of glass or somethin'."

"LWM," she muttered. "Thank you," she told him and left his apartment in a hurry. So it had been Luthorcorp's special black ops team. At least that meant Lana hadn't been harmed. She was pretty sure Lex wouldn't allow anything to happen to her. He was probably trying to make her see his side of the story. "Good luck with that," she said to herself as she made it to the street.

_End Part 7_


	9. Part 8: In the public eye

_**Part 8**_

_**In the public eye**_

"I WANT TO LEAVE!" Lana yelled exasperated at the bodyguards standing in front of her, blocking her access to the building's front doors. She tried to sound as hysterical, angry and superior as she assumed Isobel had acted with the "help", but obviously she had none of her dominating allure of power. She was just a helpless girl trying to run away.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Luthor, but Mr. Luthor was clear in his instructions. You are not to leave the building," one of the bodyguards told her calmly.

"Please, Mrs. Luthor, it's for your own protection," the doorman tried to convince her. "Your husband explained to us why you disappeared for a few days…"

"What do you mean?" Lana asked looking back at the doorman incredulously. What exactly had Lex been telling these people?

"Nothing, nothing," the doorman hurried to say. The first statement had slipped out before he had had a chance to think it over. Of course she wouldn't want to know the help had been told of her recent breakdown. They had, after all, been sworn to secrecy on the threat of various painful things if they ever divulged the information to the media. And he knew that if Lex Luthor made a threat, he intended to see it through if his conditions were not met. Hadn't he been there when Larry the bellhop had been shot right there in the building's lobby because he had revealed the name of a certain mistress to Mrs. Luthor? Of course, the mur--accident had happened in the middle of one of the Luthors' infamous fights. The lobby had been turned into a mess under Mrs. Luthor's wrath and Mr. Luthor had to pull his gun out and aim it at her to get her to stop destroying the surroundings. At that moment, he, who was hiding behind the front desk, had thought it was going to be the end of the Luthor reign, but the bellhop had taken that moment to scamper frightened across the lobby. Realization dawning on him, Mr. Luthor aimed his gun at him and shot. It was a direct hit to the head. Mrs. Luthor had looked at the body for a moment and then kissed her husband. Of course the whole thing had been sealed up and if someone asked him that day if he knew anything about that story, he would deny it vehemently.

"LET ME GO!" Lana continued to scream now held back by the arms by the two bodyguards. She struggled a bit more and then fell limp in the bodyguards' arms.

"It's all right, Mrs. Luthor, we're here for your safety," one of the bodyguards assured her. Lana sighed, leaned her head and then kneed the bodyguard on the right in the stomach catching him by surprise and pulled her arm away from the other roughly – she was sure she was going to have a bruise later – and ran as fast as she could for the doors.

"Mrs. Luthor, don't! The--," but she couldn't hear the doorman's last words as she had reached the doors and swinging them open, rushed out into the street. She was met by the blinding flashes of what seemed like a thousand cameras going off at the same time.

"Mrs. Luthor, Mrs. Luthor, can you tell us where you've been for the last three days?" a reporter asked her shoving a microphone in her face.

"Is it true that you fled to Rio de Janeiro with Quentin Terrane?" another one asked.

"How do you respond to the statements released by the prosecutors in the Lang Pharmaceuticals trial?" someone else asked. Lana, taken by surprise, backed up toward the doors, feeling like a deer in headlights and stumbling over the doormat, fell to the ground. The doorman rushed outside and helped her up as the mass of journalists before her didn't seem to be contemplating raising a finger to help her, but more hoping she'd stay down so they'd have something even more spectacular to report. Mrs Luthor having panic attacks? Mrs. Luthor fainting? Mrs. Luthor pregnant? The headlines were already spinning in their creative little minds.

"Get outta here, you jackals!" the doorman yelled at them as he guided Lana back inside. She was limping. He helped her sit down on the couch. "I told you not to go out," he said shaking his head. "Those people'll eat you alive," he added muttering, expecting her to start yelling at him at any moment. Lana Luthor was not told what to do. By anyone. Not even by her husband.

"I didn't hear you," she said still shaken.

"Best you go back to Mr. Luthor's apartment," he suggested. "I'll call a doctor to come look at your ankle."

"Thank you," she stood up and tried to head for the elevator, but her limp was pretty bad so one of the bodyguards immediately came up to her to help her.

Meanwhile, in another part of Metropolis, inside Little White Mouse Laboratories, Chloe was looking around the massive research facility impressed. It had the latest technology and machines, probably unlimited funding, everything a scientist's heart desired. It had probably been Lana - Isobel – Luthor's only good deed since she had gotten married.

"The Luthors have been good to us," the young man that was guiding her through the facility said. "They never interfered in our research. They've backed-up all our plans. Never asked us to built weapons."

"Of course not," she said as she analyzed a few white mice in a tank that seemed to be levitating on thin glass ellipses and added in her mind: _You just built untraceable communication devices for them. _

"But…," he looked back at her and added after a moment of hesitation: "Off the record, there was some small stuff, you know, a little hacking, things like that."

"It'll be our little secret," she replied with a smile. He was trying to impress her. She knew very well that the Luthors had one of the finest hackers – Andrew Miller aka RottenBionicVirus aka TheVirtualDemolitionMan – on their payroll. She didn't know how they had gotten him given he was one of those hackers that rejected any sort of proposals because he could always steal more money, but word on the street was they had threatened to kill his mother. "So, these uhm…"

"Molecular Transcommunicators," he repeated the term as he showed her inside one of the labs.

"Right. You gave Mrs. Luthor some?" she asked.

"She said it was some sort of surprise present for her husband," he explained. "I told her we were still in the prototype phase, but…you know how insistent she can be."

"Yeah…," she nodded. She sighed. She wasn't going to get anything out of him or anyone else at LWM. They were being kept in the dark and were blissfully naïve when it came to their employers. She noticed something in the back of the lab they were in. A few scientists were working at a large table. Above it, the image of Lana Luthor was projected, her lips moving as if she was speaking. The image scrambled now and then and it suddenly dawned on her what it could be. "Hey, is that from the cube I brought you earlier?"

"Yeah, they started working on it as soon as you got it here," he said excited. "You have to understand we've never had the opportunity to repair or reconstruct any of our work. We couldn't afford to break one just to fix it. The costs would've been…enormous."

"And did you manage to recover the recorded message?" she asked and she felt her blood rushing in her veins. It was the same sensation she had when she felt she was on the verge of uncovering a great story.

"Only partially," he said. "Some of the shards were too small to be pieced back together. Whoever tried to destroy it did a banged up job at it."

"Can I see it?" she asked.

"Sure," he nodded and guided her toward the back of the lab. He spoke to the men there shortly and then he gestured for her to near the table. One of the scientists pressed a few buttons and the recording – the part that had been saved so far – started playing. The voice of Lana Luthor made itself heard:

"If you're seeing this then it means….," the image scrambled and when it reappeared the voice had skipped over a segment: "…slightest clue as to where I am." The image froze for a moment so the scientist could explain:

"It jumps over the segments we weren't able to retrieve."

"If you're hoping this message will give you any hints as to where I might be, I'm sorry to disappoint you…," the recording jumped again. "Going to be very mad about it. Anyway, since – hopefully – I'm…What the hell I've been up to…entitled to know…my husband, Alexander…Lang Pharmaceuticals was never meant to be…probably noticed…ridiculous child's play…instead the drugs induce…I never told you because…they'll never know what hit them…stupid little insects…heel of my boot…it all fits in…Sergio actually had a vital piece of…I never thanked you for killing him, you did me a favor...China was essential…he had the third element… that's why the new factory has to be in France…the nexus…my powers – or lack of – are of course a problem, that's why…Clark Kent...had him enough for yourself…afraid you no longer have a say in it, it's been set into motion…paperwork will prove that…undeniably mine…you've played a good hand, Lex, but I'm afraid you lost…next time we meet…rule the world…your beloved wife, Lana."

"We might be able to reconstruct another 10 of it, but it's going to take more time," one of the scientists told her and gestured toward the sand grain sized shards left on a piece of dark glass.

"Well, if you manage to do anything more with it, have Kevin call me. He has my cell number," she told him distracted. What she had heard had disturbed her greatly. Sergio, China, France, Clark Kent's disappearance, all tied in together somehow? Could it be possible? Her cellphone suddenly started ringing and it took her a few moments to realize it. She answered it still lost in the implications of everything she had just heard: "Hello?"

"She showed up!" an excited fellow reporter from the Daily Planet practically yelled in her ear snapping her out of her reverie.

"Who showed up?" she asked confused.

"Mrs. L, who else!" the man told her frustrated.

"What? Where? When?" she asked catching on that he was referring to Lana.

"You ready for this? Coming out of Lex Luthor's twin tower!" he told her and it was obvious he was still in front of the building among a lot more journalists. "Think this might've been some sort of set-up and they've been actually having a three day sexcapade? I mean she's been missing, he hasn't been seen…that whole he-was-brooding-at-Luthorcorp business sounded phony to me since the get-go anyway. I gotta go, that bitch from the Inquirer is attacking our photographer. She's hell bent on destroying all pictures of Mrs. Luthor but the ones she got." And with that he hung up.

So that's where he was keeping her. In plain sight, in his penthouse apartment. At least she had one problem less to worry about now.

In Lex's apartment, the doctor had just left. Lana was sitting on the couch with her bandaged ankle leaned on the cushions on a chair when Lex burst into the apartment, looking extremely worried.

"I got here as soon as I heard," he said and it was obvious by the way he was breathing that he had hurried there.

"I just sprained my ankle," she told him and gestured toward her injury. "It hurts when I try to walk on it, but the doctor said I'll be fine in a few days," there was an awkward pause before she went on: "How did the media know I was here?"

"They didn't," he said sitting down in an armchair opposite the couch. He would have sat down next to her, but he was afraid the closeness would have made her even more uncomfortable. "They were waiting for me to show up. Word got out I was back home."

"Didn't they see you when you left earlier?" she asked frowning.

"There's a ton of ways to get out of this place without going out the front doors," he said and smiled, adding: "I never had to sneak out of my house growing up so I suppose this is life compensating for lost teenage thrills."

"I never thought about it…," she realized though she should have, given everything she knew about her life for the last two years. She blamed her mind for being too busy contemplating a solution to the Lang Pharmaceuticals problem.

"We only use front doors for special events," Lex explained. "When people know we're supposed to leave and we can't ridicule ourselves by jumping out the kitchen windows to avoid the ever-vigilant eyes of the press."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said with a smile. The idea Lex Luthor was going around jumping out through kitchen windows was enough to make her want to chuckle, but she managed to repress the urge.

"I swear the person that did this to you is going to regret it," he said standing up.

"That person would be me," she said a little embarrassed. "I tripped. They caught me off guard."

"They're such animals," he said grimacing. "They'd kill for a good story."

"And I guess I gave them a pretty good one, huh?" she chuckled nervously.

"I'm afraid the speculations will be endless," he admitted, but didn't add the fact the press was probably going to chalk it up to yet another violent/sexual make-up the Luthors had become so infamous for. "Where were you planning on going?" he asked after a moment of hesitation.

"I just wanted to see if I couldn't shut down Lang Pharmaceuticals," she explained. "There are some things I remember…from Isobel and there are these random things that pop up in my mind occasionally and I thought…maybe…"

"You'd get enough flashes to get through the wall of safety procedures Isobel put up?" he smirked. "That's very noble of you, but I'm afraid quite impossible."

"You don't know that!" she protested. "It could work."

He stared at her for a moment. Yes, it was possible that it would work. But a nagging question wouldn't leave him alone: if she actually managed to remember how to pass through Isobel's entire safety procedure system, would that effort force her to regain more of Isobel's memories? And even worse: was this something Isobel had planned all along? For her plans to come through, Lana would have to remember some vitals things that had happened in the last two years. Things no one but the two of them knew of. He blinked, chasing away his dark thoughts and concentrated on Lana. She was expecting an answer to her plea. And the way her hands moved nervously in her lap, how she forced herself not to bite her lip and the hope in her eyes she tried to hide behind a firm gaze, made him instantly say:

"Okay." When had he been able to say no to her anyway? "But you're taking the bodyguards with you and you're going with a car," he told her standing up and nearing her, instinctively kissed her on the forehead before he even realized what he was doing. "I'll see you tonight," he said and headed for the apartment's door.

"Yeah, see you," she muttered. She knew she probably wouldn't have a chance to escape the bodyguards and even if she did, where would she go? She had a face everyone recognized and going back into the crummy part of Metropolis to hide out didn't sound like such a good idea either. There was one thing she could do though, it occurred to her and she struggled to reach the phone on the table.

Picking it up, she dialed the downstairs number. The doorman instantly picked up and she asked him:

"Could you please get me the number for the Daily Planet?"

"Right away, ma'am," he replied. Had Mrs. Luthor actually said please?

"Call me back when you got it," she said and after the doorman assured her he would she hung up. The bodyguards could probably keep Chloe from coming inside the building or up to her apartment, but they couldn't stop her from meeting her outside Lang Pharmaceuticals.

_End Part 8 _


	10. Part 9: Trigger

_**Part 9**_

_**Trigger**_

He was staring at the desk without blinking for over twenty minutes now. A knock on the door distracted him. His secretary – a new one since his last one had quit after dealing directly with his rage – peaked inside and said on a low tone as if something was preventing her from speaking out loud:

"Mr. Luthor, he's here."

"Show him in," he said after a moment of hesitation. He was still unsure that the decision he had taken had been the right one, but he was sure nothing good would come of that whole situation. Isobel had gone to great lengths to set everything into motion and it was obvious Lana's sudden resurfacing was part of it. He wasn't exactly sure why she needed her, but if she had allowed Lana's reappearance, she probably intended to repress her again once whatever she had planned for her was over. And that he could not allow.

The nervous little man that entered his office sat down in the chair opposite him and shifted uncomfortably in it. His name was professor Gerard Bouvier and he was an expert on the history of French witchcraft and coincidently, of Isobel Theroux.

"Mr. Bouvier," he greeted him putting his troubled thoughts aside.

"Mr. Luthor," he replied with a short nod.

"You probably suspect why I've asked you to come here," he said observing the man before him. He looked like someone who had a lot of secrets, like the shadow expert that had been finally brought into the light. "I'm not going to go into too many details. First, I want to know if what she's planned is possible."

"Very much so," he hesitated for a moment then added stuttering: "M-mister Luthor."

"Did you help her with…the preparations?" he asked wondering what he should do with the good professor. Kill him? Obviously, he knew too much and once he would know what he knew, it would become dangerous for him to be free. So the question was: what to do with him? Death or incarceration. Or better, a mental institution where what he said would never be taken into consideration.

"No!" he hurried to answer. "Absolutely not. I was just a…" he bit his tongue the moment he had continued the phrase. The smart thing would have been denying ever having anything to do with Mrs. Luthor, but now it was too late. He had signed his own death sentence.

"A…," Lex started for him again.

"A counselor of sorts," he said hesitantly. "But you have to understand…I thought your wife was just passionate about witchcraft history and meeting those sort of people is such a rarity that…"

"And the funding for your research must be quite a rarity as well," he interrupted him. Bouvier was ready to deny ever accepting money from his wife, but he stopped him by saying: "If it hadn't been for the money trail you so clumsily omitted to hide, I would've never found you."

"Well, yes, but it was all spent in your wife's interest, I assure you...I didn't have the money to buy some of the manuscripts she wanted to see so she gave me the money to buy them for her…others she negotiated for herself," he explained.

"What did Sergio Precarrio have that my wife wanted?" he asked leaning back in his chair.

"Nothing that I'm aware of," he said frowning. "Sergio Precarrio wasn't a fan of history. In fact he was a collector of modern…oddities if you want."

"What sort of oddities?" he asked a spark of interest evident in his eyes.

"Well…you must've seen his observatory in Nice…," he started saying.

"Yes, I did," it suddenly dawned on him that he had. It was one of the many things Sergio had showed him and Lana in Italy, but the observatory hadn't represented a big enough interest at that time – they had been married only for a few months then. He had still been floating at that time and had been brought back down to earth only when word of Lana's affair with Sergio had gotten out.

"He was one of those UFO freaks. Collecting all sorts of strange abduction memorabilia…," he went on.

"Did he ever happen to visit Smallville? After the last meteor shower?" Lex asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

A few blocks away, in the downtown administrative offices of Lang Pharmaceuticals, Lana was lead inside the chief lawyer's office and after a few insistences on her side, Chloe had been allowed to join her as well. She had expected to meet Michael Jeffries, the lawyer representing Lang Pharmaceuticals in the upcoming trial, but instead found a woman sitting behind the desk. Later, Chloe would explain: those lawyers handled the company's paper work and occasional off-court settlings.

"Mrs. Luthor, it's so nice to see you again," the woman greeted her with a wide smile that was as fake as her perfect teeth.

"Nice to see you too, uhm…," she thought back to the name written in big letter on the door and recalled: "Matilda," she sat down in a chair opposite the lawyer's and gestured for Chloe to sit down next to her.

"Miss Sullivan," she greeted Chloe with the same smile, not daring to ask what she was doing there or why Mrs. Luthor that brought the little snoopy bitch with her.

"Mati," Chloe greeted her with an ostentatiously mocking smile.

"What can I help you with today, Mrs. Luthor?" the lawyer turned toward Lana, continuing to smile.

"I'm here to start the termination procedures for Lang Pharmaceuticals," Lana said taking a deep breath. Her words finally managed to wipe the smile off Matilda's face. Chloe was relieved. She had started to believe her face had gotten stuck on that grimace. Soon enough though the smile – now smaller, more normal looking – reappeared on her lips as she opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers.

"All right," she said and Lana thought she was going to pull out a few pages of tricky questions, but Matilda slid the entire stack over the table to her. Lana blinked and stared at them unbelievingly. "Oh, almost forgot," Matilda put a hand over the papers so Lana couldn't see their contents. "I'm going to need the password that allows you to begin the procedures."

"That's preposterous! She's the one that made up this entire stupid system to begin with!" Chloe pointed out. She had been outraged when Lana had told her what Isobel had done and everything Lex had confessed to her concerning Lang Pharmaceuticals.

"Mrs. Luthor, are you sure you want to do this in the presence of a member of the press?" Matilda asked Lana on a confidential tone, ignoring Chloe.

"Yes," Lana simply told her. She was Lana Luthor after all and no one asked her for any explanations, she found herself thinking.

"Very well. Password please," Matilda said pulling the papers back toward her.

"Look, Matilda, Chloe's right. It's kind of silly to go through this whole thing I made up myself, don't you think?" she tried to convince her to let the procedures slide.

"I wish I could spare you the trouble, I really do, but I'm afraid it's no longer in my hands. Everything's been legalized. You can't terminate Lang Pharmaceuticals legally without going through the procedures anymore," she explained and then added: "You specifically asked that it all be registered that way. Don't you remember?"

"Of course," Lana forced herself to smile. "So the password…the password is…uhm…," then suddenly, like a little voice whispered it in her ear – a voice that wasn't hers – she said: "Animum remitto."

"And what does it mean?" the lawyer asked.

"I send back the spirit," Lana answered and Chloe looked at her curiously.

"There you go," Matilda smiled again and pushed the papers back toward her. "You're free to take them home. Although you probably know the answers by heart it's going to take you a while to complete all the forms and I don't want to keep you here all day. And…I suggest you complete them in private. Some of the questions are…quite delicate," she added giving Chloe a short suspicious glance.

"Thank you for your concern," Lana simply told her and stood up. Chloe did the same and they headed out of the office.

"I wonder if she's had surgery to get her face constantly on smiley-mode," Chloe said once they were down in the building's lobby.

"She did seem to be pushing it a bit," Lana noted.

"A bit?" Chloe chuckled. "The woman is a big league shark, Lana, you don't have to be nice about her."

"Can you believe all this?" Lana asked turning her attention toward the papers in her hands. "There's probably a question on every minute of her life in my body."

"Well, you did manage to guess the password. Maybe you'll get lucky with the questions too," she said optimistically.

"I hope so," Lana said sighing. "At least now I have an occupation."

"Takes the mind off the home arrest situation, huh?" Chloe noticed the bodyguards Lex had appointed to watch over Lana standing outside.

"It's not home arrest…technically," she followed her gaze.

"What I'd like to know is why he's keeping you locked up," Chloe said.

"Maybe he just doesn't want me running any further away. I mean with the papers and the trial…he can't really afford to risk losing track of me," she found herself making excuses for him. Why?

"And I'm the next Miss America," she scoffed. "There's gotta be a reason. There's always a reason," she thought back to the scrambled message she had heard at LWM. It had sounded like Isobel had left Lana in charge willingly and it wasn't all just some sort of cosmic coincidence. And if she had realized that, so had Lex. And he had, after all, heard the entire message and was more aware of certain elements than she could ever be as an outsider to their private endeavors.

"He's been nice. Less disturbing," she confessed.

"Well, he did realize it's you. Can you imagine how freaked out he is about it?" she chuckled.

"He's probably doing his best to act like he hasn't touched you at all in two years…" she noticed she was uncomfortable with the subject so she changed it: "I passed by the LWM labs. They managed to recover part of the message, but most of it doesn't make sense," she lied. Lana had enough to worry about. That was going to be her problem.

"That's too bad," Lana said and after a moment of silence added: "It's strange…on one side, I don't really seem to register that it's been two years since the meteor shower and I can't see anything or anyone – you, Lex – anyhow else as I knew you then. And on the other side, there are all these habits and feelings I picked up somewhere and I know it must've happened when I wasn't here. Like the fact I can walk on stilettos and drive that sports car or the fact I speak fluent French…"

"What about the feelings?" she asked carefully. Lana Luthor had hated her very much after all and she didn't want to think her friend had been affected by those feelings.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Like the fact…despite everything you've told me about Lex, what he's done, what we've done, I can't bring myself to hate him. It's like something inside me is saying I should know better than to be angry at him."

"Careful, Lana, you might be slipping down the Isobel slope a little too much," Chloe pointed out.

"Believe me, I'd give anything to feel like I was in charge of my own emotions again," she said sighing.

That night, Lex returned home, tired after a day of chasing confirmations right and left and trying to find solutions to the predicaments he had previously been unaware of being in. He loosened his tie as soon as he entered the apartment and headed straight for the bar to pour himself a glass of scotch. It was one of the first things he did when he got home because it relaxed him. He made a mental note to be more careful with the drinking because soon enough the press – so avid for speculations – would turn him into a notorious alcoholic.

At first, he didn't even register the fact Lana was there. He had gotten too used to coming home to an empty apartment. The rare times his wife decided to surprise him never meant anything good. She either wanted to talk business somewhere where she could persuade him into accepting something through more unorthodox ways or she was having one of her famous jealousy or anger fits.

The first hint that someone was there was the lights being on in his bedroom. Then the faint smell of a feminine presence. The jacket left awkwardly over the back of a chair… He had had a moment of slight confusion. Who could it be? Then instantly: Lana.

He made his way to the bedroom where the door had been left cracked open. He gently pushed it wide open. When he came across the picture in front of him, he smiled. Lana was lying on the bed, fast asleep with a mountain of papers scattered around her and at the foot of the bed. He noticed she was still clutching a pen in one of her hands. He walked over to the bed as silently as possible and bent down to see what the papers were. Hundreds and hundreds of questions filled the white pages, some answered, others left with a question mark written with a pencil in the answer box. He scanned the questions quickly. Part of them were about the 17th century and witchcraft. Others were personal. Lana shifted in the bed and half opened her eyes.

"The termination procedures for Lang Pharmaceuticals," she explained sleepily, then turned her head to the other side, closing her eyes. "Have to…there's this part…I have to go to the factory tomorrow…somehow…I know I'll find the answers there," she muttered and he wasn't sure she was awake. He looked back down at the papers in his hands and put them on the nightstand, then carefully started gathering the ones spread on the bed, trying his best not to wake her. When he was picking up the papers scattered next to her head, one of her hands reached out to his arm, moved under the unbuttoned cufflinks of his shirt and she whispered: "Aren't you coming to bed?"

He froze. She was asleep. This wasn't her talking. A little voice inside his head wondered why he couldn't just take advantage of the situation, he couldn't be later blamed for anything given she was the one asking…Shutting that voice away, he gently removed her hand and put it back down across her stomach. After pulling the hair away from her face, he resumed gathering the papers. He leaned over her to reach some of the papers and felt her body stirring beneath him. A million flashbacks hit him at once and he tried as hard as possible to shake them off and concentrate on what he was doing. One of her hands pulled the shirt out of his pants and moved up to caress his stomach.

"Come on, Lex, it's been over a month," she muttered under her breath and her hand moved lower and lower until it lost itself beyond his belt and beneath the fine Italian fabric of his pants.

"Lana," he said on a warning tone. And as if that had been enough to wake her up, her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at him confused. Then realization suddenly dawning on her…her hand was wrapped around…

"Oh god," she let out horrified and embarrassed and quickly pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry. I…I…" she had no idea what had happened.

"It's all right. You were just having a dream," he said trying to appear unphased by her actions. Clearing his throat, he pulled away from the bed, still holding the papers in his hands. "I…uhm, I saw you managed to answer some of the questions."

"Yeah," she nodded chasing away the last specters of her dreams. "I guess she never counted on 17th century witchcraft being internet searchable."

"And the rest?" he asked as he arranged the papers in his hands over the ones he had left on the nightstand.

"I remember things. Here and there. It's weird. It's like she knew the exact question that would make me remember a certain thing," she said sighing. "Although some of the questions were confusing and didn't make much sense. Like: what's the meaning of the color green? When and where was there an S? Can you believe it?"

"That is strange," he smiled weakly. "And you were saying something about having to go to the Lang Pharmaceuticals factory tomorrow…"

"Oh, yeah…to the one in the industrial area. For some reason, while I was reading all those weird questions, I suddenly got the urge to go there. Like something there could make me understand what they were all about," she shrugged. "Maybe it will or maybe I'm just mistaking every thought I have with some sort of repressed memory coming back. But…better safe than sorry."

"Absolutely," he nodded.

"This is your bedroom isn't it?" she realized. "And here I am stealing your bed. With all the other empty rooms there are."

"It's no problem, really. If you feel more comfortable, stay here. I have no problem sleeping in a guestroom," he assured her.

"Thanks," she smiled. "It's just… this room feels less cold and more lived in than the others."

"I'll let you rest now," he excused himself and headed for the door. "Good night."

"Good night," he heard her whisper as he closed the door shut behind him.

Once he was back in the living room, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Bringing her there had been a terrible idea. Now he was going to spend the night twisting and turning in his bed, wondering what she was doing, what she was dreaming, who she was dreaming about. He rubbed his face tiredly. And here he had been thinking he was finally going to get a good night's rest. Sighing again, he pulled out his cellphone and taking his drink with him made his way to the guestroom located furthest away from his bedroom. He dialed a number and when the person on the other end of the line picked up, he said:

"I want you to bomb Lang Pharmaceuticals' factory from the industrial area. Tonight. I want it to be ashes by morning."

_End Part 9_


	11. Part 10: Plan B

_**Part 10**_

_**Plan B**_

_She was in a warehouse somewhere. It was full of crates and boxes that looked like they hadn't been touched in years. She walked among them with confidence, looking carefully right and left. What was she looking for again? Not her, but the one inside her body. Lana was still there, deep down, locked in her golden cage. A princess waiting to be rescued by her prince. _

"_Clark…," she heard her calling out. "Clark…I know you're here…" She stopped for a moment to listen. A faint noise like someone trying to run - to escape – was heard. Then the muffled sound of a fall. She smiled and made her way to the origin of the noise. "Come on, Clark, you can't hide forever. Your family's worried sick about you. Your mom…You dad…Chloe…Lex…me."_

_Nothing. No reply. He didn't want to be found. Unfortunately, Lana felt he didn't have a choice. She would find him and then something bad was going to happen. She turned a corner and there, leaned against the wall, looking like he was having trouble breathing, was Clark Kent._

"_There you are," she said with a smile. _

"_Get away from me," he muttered trying to stand up, but fell back down as soon as he managed to get himself to stand. He was breathing heavily, like he was choking. Smashed crates were lying around him. What exactly had happened there? The woman inside her knew and was already gloating about it. Couldn't she do something to help him? Anything? She wanted to yell out to him, to warn him, to tell him to run away as fast as he could because she meant to hurt him._

"_Now, now, is that any way to talk to the love of your life?" she asked with a fake pout, kneeling down next to him. She reached out to him, but he pushed her hand away. "You left before I had a chance to say my last I love you."_

"_Leave Lana alone!" he found the strength to cry out._

"_I'm afraid that's quite impossible now, Clark," she smirked. "Best thing you can do is to give in and leave the world up to me. Go to sleep," she muttered leaning forward until her mouth was an inch away from his. "Dream of Lana Lang. That's the only place you'll ever have her in." _

"_NO!" he backed up into the wall and turned his head away. She sighed._

"_We can do this the easy way or the hard way," she said and standing up walked up to the wall. Leaning down toward him, she put a hand around his neck and told him, through clenched teeth: "Now kiss me," she forced her mouth down onto his. He tried to push her away and Lana, inside the body, was rooting for him to succeed. But he was weak for some reason and she, like always, was too strong. He gave in to the kiss, opened his mouth. The green light appeared from between her lips again and dragged itself into him like a parasite. She smiled. _

_No, Clark, Lana, inside her, cried out and Clark's eyes opened wide. Had he heard her? Shoving her onto her back, he crawled onto her and continued to kiss her fiercely. What was he doing? There was something destructive in that kiss. The green light wouldn't stop leaving her body. What was he doing? Then slowly, his body went limp and he fell unconscious on top of her. Throwing him off of her, she got up, brushed herself off. Looking down at him with a grimace, she pointed toward him, whispering something in an old forgotten language, but nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Again. Again. Again. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. _

_Anger seeped into her and she kicked the unconscious body, yelling as loud as she could:_

"_What did you do! What did you do!"_

Lana was woken up by the sound of a phone ringing. She had to blink several times to realize she was awake. She looked around herself. Where was she this time? Metropolis. Lex's bedroom. Had something happened between them? Yeah, they had gotten married and…and…she held her head for a moment, then realized that the phone was continuing to ring somewhere. Standing up from the bed she looked around the room, but the sound wasn't coming from there. When she opened the door, the ringing got louder. It was coming from the living room that was separated from the bedroom only through a short corridor. She rushed to the living room and finding the phone responsible for all the noise, she answered it, still a little sleepily:

"Hello?"

"Did you tell him about Lang Pharmaceuticals?" an urgent sounding female voice asked her on the other end of the line.

"Chloe?" she asked frowning.

"Yeah," she answered and after a beat added: "Well, did you?"

"How did you get this number?" she asked confused.

"I have my ways," she said hurriedly. "Look, Lana…"

"What if Lex had answered?" she went on.

"He's at work at this hour," she replied. "Lana, listen to me, did you tell him about Lang Pharmaceuticals? That you wanted to go there today?"

"Yes," she recalled the previous night. "Why?"

"Turn on your TV. On a news channel," she told her and Lana picked up the TV's remote from the table and turned the massive wide screen TV on. She flipped through the channels until she reached one that had a news report on. A reporter was just announcing:

"…_Lang Pharmaceuticals last night. Initial investigations suggest that a short-circuit caused one of the massive machines to explode and trigger a chain reaction that wound up destroying the entire factory. Luckily, there were no human casualties. Authorities haven't crossed out the possibility of the explosion being a result of a hostile action against Lang Pharmaceuticals as the controversial company is currently on trial for distribution of untested drugs. Lana Luthor, CEO and owner of Lang Pharmaceuticals, was unavailable for comments_…" In the background, the remains of what had once been one of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories was shown as the firemen were putting the last flames out.

"Oh my god," she let out incredulous.

"Kinda of a big coincidence that this happened right before you were supposed to go there, don't you think?" she replied.

"No, Lex wouldn't…," she didn't want to believe it.

"Newsflash, yes he would," she scoffed. "This is the same Lex Luthor that offed his entire executive board when he found out someone was leaking information to the press we're talking about. You gotta get rid of these feelings Isobel's put in your mind…"

"Yeah, but…you said it yourself a lot of people hated Isobel and Lang Pharmaceuticals has hurt a lot of people, maybe one of them was mad enough to…," she tried to find a different explanation.

"No one attacks the Luthors unless they want to be hunted down and killed along with everyone they ever knew or loved," she interrupted her.

"Well, nothing happened to you after you published those stories about Lang Pharmaceuticals," she reminded her.

"Yeah, but only because when they'd win the trial it would be a bigger victory to prove I was lying and destroy my credibility through it," she pointed out. "Worst thing that could happen to a journalist."

"I still don't think he'd blow up a building just because I wanted to go there," she said and decided she would have to hear the truth from Lex himself. If she went to Luthorcorp and asked him straight out…he wouldn't lie to her, would he?

Later, across town, at the Luthorcorp offices, Lex was in the middle of a meeting. Lawyers and insurance agents were trying to come to a compromise regarding the destruction of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factory. The insurance companies were trying to escape payment of the damages through a bureaucratic loop. Luthorcorp lawyers were using every trick in the book to make the explosion legit in insurance terms. And Lex was presiding over the chaos. As soon as news of the factory's destruction had hit the media, the phones at Lang Pharmaceuticals had been ringing off the hook and since Lana was in no condition to handle the mess, he had taken it upon himself to fill in for her. So far however all he had gotten out of it had been a headache. Lawyers and insurance agents in the same room meant only one thing: unending arguments and a nightmarish bureaucratic war that would eventually be won by who had been conniving enough when developing contracts. And since he had hired only the most ruthless lawyers, Lex assumed the end result would be in his favor, but that didn't mean they could simply skip over the arguments.

A knock on the door reduced the room to silence and the people finally seemed to re-acknowledge Lex's presence there as all eyes darted toward him.

"Yes?" he asked on a calm voice although the meeting had been getting on his last nerve. His secretary entered the conference room and told him:

"Mr. Luthor, your wife's here. She wants to talk to you." Same low voice she had been using since he had hired her. It was one of the things he liked about her. A high-pitched voice would have probably irritated him, but the even soft voice provided for a soothing sensation.

"Mrs. Luthor?" one of the insurance agents looked at Lex. "She should join the meeting. She, as owner of Lang Pharmaceuticals, could maybe…"

"No, she couldn't," Lex told him firmly standing up. "The gentlemen here are her representatives and anything you need to deal with her, you can safely go through them. I'll return shortly."

Without another word, he left the conference room and took a deep breath as soon as he was out of the room. Behind him, he could hear the arguments being reprised as if he had never left the room. He made his way to the office and entering it, found Lana pacing nervously in front of his empty desk.

"Lana," he greeted her drawing her attention toward him as he closed the door behind him. She stared back at him and the look in her eyes – doubt and just a bit of anger – made the reason of her visit obvious. He had hoped he wouldn't have to go through that, but that had been wishful thinking.

"I assume you've heard about the factory?" she said on an impatient tone as he made his way to his chair.

"Hard not to. It was all over the news this morning," he pointed out. He paused for a moment before sitting down, staring into her eyes. Then when he was seated comfortably, he told her with a smirk: "Aren't you going to ask what you came here to ask?"

"Did you have anything to do with it?" she asked taking a deep breath. And the way she had said it, the look of hope in her eyes, the way she was hanging on to it…it just pleaded with him to lie:

"No, I had nothing to do with it."

She sighed relieved without knowing it. Lex knew he would have told Isobel the truth. She would have never believed anything else. Even if he had really been innocent, she would have still blamed him for it.

"I told you I was going to go there last night and today it's gone. Doesn't that sound slightly incriminating?" she insisted on it although something inside her felt he was being honest. Maybe if you want something to be true, you convince yourself of it even if you're lying to yourself.

"You're right, it does," he admitted. He stood up and walked over to her. "Lana, you have to believe me, I would never do anything to hurt you, just to protect you," he couldn't help himself from gently tracing her cheek with his hand.

"I…," she looked up at him and his mouth was so close to hers… An urgent knock on the door made her pull away. His secretary entered the office without being asked in and after glancing shortly at them both, addressed Lex:

"Mr. Luthor, your presence is urgently requested in the conference room. It seems one of the insurance people tried to strangle Mr. Addison," she named one of the lawyers.

"Tell them I'll be right there," he told her. They had probably already reached the blackmailing stage. He shook his head. If no one was there to watch over them, those people really got out of control. They needed someone they all feared in the room with them for the negotiations to be even mildly civilized. The secretary nodded and left. When she was gone, Lex turned back toward Lana: "I'm sorry. I have to go. But if you want to visit any of the other factories or see the remains of the one that burnt down…"

"No," she shook her head. It didn't matter anymore. She felt it. It had been _that_ factory that had meant something. And with that thought the seed of doubt was replanted in her mind. Could he have known it was that important to her? "I'll try the questions again. Maybe this time I'll remember something else," she shrugged and headed for the door.

"If it's of any comfort to you, one of the Lang Pharmaceuticals employees was responsible for the explosion. He was on the list of the Lang Pharmaceuticals complainants without our knowledge," he explained. Lana would probably read about that verdict in the papers the next day. It had been the official version the lawyers had decided on as it would greatly benefit Lang Pharmaceuticals if some of the complainants were proven to have had criminal intentions against the company.

"Thank you," she said before heading out.

She wanted to believe what he had told her had been true, she really did, but something inside her seemed unconvinced by his confession. A tremor crossed her body at the thought that that certain something was actually Isobel stirring inside her. She made her way to the elevator. Once inside, she pushed the ground floor button. Five floors down, the doors opened again and a strange little man got on. He stared at her intently as if waiting for her to recognize him.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked frowning.

"My name is John Sutton, I'm an employee of Lang Pharmaceuticals…of the factory that blew up last night," he chuckled nervously as he fiddled around with a wide brown envelope.

"Really?" she forced herself to smile and unconsciously took a step away from him wondering if that was the same employee Lex had been talking about. No, he was probably already captured. Locked away somewhere.

"You really don't remember me?" he asked sighing. She shook her head and looked at him apologetically. "You said that might happen."

"When did we talk?" she asked curiously.

"A while ago," he said and then extending the brown envelope toward her added: "You said that if anything were to happen to the factory, I should give you this envelope. That you would know what to do with it."

"Thank you," she said accepting it.

At the next floor, he got off. Lana was left alone in the elevator staring at the envelope. It was obviously some sort of message from Isobel. Whatever had been destroyed in the factory and she was supposed to see was there. She looked at it hesitantly. On one side, she was curious to see what it was - happy that she hadn't lost something she felt was essential. But on the other side, it had occurred to her how wrong Isobel wanting her to find out something was. For a moment she felt like a puppet dancing to someone's tune. She turned the envelope on all sides. There was nothing written on it. No clue as to what it held inside.

She waited until she got back to the apartment and only then dared to open it. She thought she might find another strange piece of glass containing some sort of secret message. Instead she found a drawing. An S in a diamond shape. She looked at it surprised. Turned the piece of paper over. There was nothing on the back. She looked into the envelope to see if there wasn't anything else inside it. It was empty. She looked at the drawing again. She tilted her head as she stared at it, then like a flash she had a vision of herself drawing it.

"What…," was all she could mutter before she was flooded by a torrent of images. Luthorcorp. A basement. A tank. Lex leaning in to get a closer look. And in the tank, floating in a green liquid, Clark. And she, standing just a few feet away, smirking. She blinked and she was back in the apartment, clutching the now ripped apart drawing in her hands.

It couldn't be true…could it? Could Lex have done such a thing? What if it was just Isobel poisoning her mind? Still, those images felt so real… And it felt like she had seen them before. Somewhere. She picked up the phone and quickly dialed a number. When Chloe picked up at the other end of the line, she said, in a shaking voice:

"I know where Clark is."

_End Part 10_


	12. Part 11: Freedom

_**Part 11**_

_**The Price of Freedom**_

"The basement of Luthorcorp?" Chloe asked as she paced around the living room. The news that Lana had found out where Clark was had been enough to make her rush over to Lex's apartment building and sneak in with the laundry service to avoid the bodyguards. "Are you sure about this?"

"Pretty sure," she nodded a little hesitantly.

"And this was all it took for you to remember?" she held up the drawing she had meticulously put back together from the pieces Lana had torn it apart in. "I don't get it," she stated after looking intently at it for a few moments.

"Me either," she shrugged. "But every time I look at it…," she stared at the drawing and she got another flash of Clark in the tank.

"Well, we could find him, but there is one tiny little problem," Chloe said and Lana looked at her expectantly when she didn't continue: "Luthorcorp has over fifty factories in the United States alone. Think you can pinpoint one?"

"I don't know," she took the patched up drawing from her hands and held it up. "Isn't there one that's more important than the others?"

"The biggest one is on the West Coast, but…," she started saying, but Lana interrupted her:

"Which one's the most important in Metropolis?" For some reason, she was sure Lex wouldn't allow Clark to be taken too far away from his supervision. The distinct feeling he would never trust anyone to look after him as closely as he needed to be watched seemed to prevail.

"The mother-factory I suppose. It's the first the Luthors ever bought. It has a few decades on its track sheet," she explained. "Think he's there?"

"He might be…" Lana asked. "Which factories does Lex have offices in?"

"All of them," she answered instantly. "Every factory has at least one office reserved for him. Boss's right and all that."

"It has to be the mother factory then," she insisted. "We'll go there first," she added after contemplating the drawing one last time before going to get her jacket. Chloe didn't move.

"And how exactly do you plan on getting in?" the reporter asked raising her eyebrows.

"I'm his wife. I assume I have clearance. Once inside, I'm sure there's some way we can sneak into the underground. Though there might not be any need for sneaking," she said as she put her jacket on. "Isobel was there before. And obviously she wanted me to find Clark so maybe she's made it easy for me…"

"And somewhere in that scary perspective, you lost Lex. He knows Isobel was planning something before she disappeared. Isobel wanted you to find Clark. Lex probably knew that's what she wanted so he blew up a Lang Pharmaceuticals factory just to make sure you wouldn't find out. By now, he probably made sure that if anyone sees you in a 10 mile radius of Luthorcorp, he's going to find out about it and stop you. Somehow," Chloe pointed out.

"He wouldn't hurt me," she said on a firm tone.

"I never said he would. But there's no way in hell he's going to simply let you find Clark," she explained.

"You have a better plan then?" Lana asked hesitantly, stepping uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Now that you ask…," Chloe smiled mischievously.

Across town, in Lex Luthor's downtown office, John Sutton, former employee of the destroyed Lang Pharmaceuticals factory, was being sat down in a chair opposite Lex by two intimidating bodyguards. He had been escorted there after security cameras showed Mrs. Luthor entering the elevator empty handed and coming out holding an envelope she could have only received from him. John hadn't realized the envelope had been so important. He had simply been doing what his employer had paid him a fine sum of money – no doubt to compensate for the strangeness of the request – to accomplish.

"What was in the envelope?" Lex asked straight out. He didn't have patience to deal with some crummy little man Isobel had talked into running her errands while she was 'out of town'.

"I-I don't know," John said fidgeting in his seat uncomfortably. "It was sealed when I received it."

"Received it from who?" he leaned in his chair and rubbed his face tiredly. He feared he would wind up doing something he'd later regret out of pure impatience.

"I…uhm, I'm not at liberty to say," he muttered nervously. Mrs. Luthor's orders had been clear. He was not to reveal to anyone but her the origin of the envelope. Especially not to her husband. But seeing the glimmer in Mr.Luthor's eyes, he realized the big trouble he was in. And if he did reveal the fact Mrs. Luthor had addressed the envelope to herself? Then he'd get in trouble with her…but she didn't seem to remember him. Didn't that mean she didn't remember her orders either?

"Not at liberty?" Lex asked standing up, trying to hold back his anger. He turned toward the massive windows and marveled at Isobel's plans for the millionth time. The way even though she was absent from the picture, she kept being one step ahead of him. She had forseen the possibility of him destroying the Lang Pharmaceuticals factory where she had left clues for Lana. But what could she had left in an envelope for her? A detailed letter of all the things Lana didn't remember? No, she would never be that obvious. It must've been something more discreet. "Devon, Matt," he said without looking back at the bodyguards. The two men grabbed Sutton and opening a window, hung him out by the legs. He started screaming, but the people down in the streets didn't seem to care. Or simply didn't want to notice what was happening. "Who sent the envelope?" Lex asked calmly, coming up to him. When John hesitated, he added: "They will drop you if I tell them to, Mr. Sutton. I suggest you make a wise decision."

"It was her!" he yelled when he realized he was being serious. "Mrs. Luthor! She sent it to herself! She told me she might not recognize me because of some sort of bizarre amnesiac condition she was fighting. I swear I don't know what was in it!"

"When did she give you the envelope?" Lex asked as he gestured for Devon and Matt to pull him up.

"A few weeks ago. Two-three maybe," he said trying to regain his composure once he was back inside.

"How thick was the envelope?" he asked realizing the man probably really didn't know what was in it and had been way too frightened by the possible consequences to actually open it. Isobel knew how to choose her errand boys.

"Thin," John admitted. "At one point I even thought there was nothing in it."

"And you dismissed this idea because…," he started for him.

"I put it in front of a light. There was a piece of paper in it," he assured him.

"Good. Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Sutton," he told him with a forced smile and gestured that he was free to leave. John headed for the door and when he was about to open it, Lex added: "And this discussion's going to remain between us I hope. Just like Mrs. Luthor's orders. If I find out you spoke to anyone about either of the two, Matt and Devon might pay you a midnight visit."

"Y-yes, Mr. Luthor," he said on a trembling voice before leaving the office.

Across town, in the industrial area, Chloe and Lana were nearing the Luthorcorp mother-factory. It was late afternoon. They had passed by Chloe's apartment to pick up her so-called 'investigation kit'. Which included a pair of pliers, an oddly shaped hair pin and duck tape among other things. Lana had liked her little apartment. Chloe had admitted that journalism didn't quite pay the bills. Why she had been tempted a couple of times to accept some of Isobel's generous pay-offs, but then she had put the money in a balance with her face when she'd turn down her offer and always decided for the later. There was nothing she liked more than pissing Mrs. Luthor off.

"Shouldn't we have waited for sundown?" Lana asked hesitantly as the factory appeared on the horizon.

"And what? Wear black and jump down into the building suspended by wires?" she asked chuckling. "This isn't Mission Impossible, Lana. Besides in daytime, the security's lower and you know, they wouldn't think about killing us in broad daylight."

"What?" Lana asked incredulous.

"They'd risk getting caught carrying the bodies. There's a bigger chance of someone seeing them dumping us in the river," Chloe explained as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Unless of course they decided to off us in the basement, but hey, at least we'd get to see what's down there, right?"

"They won't kill us," she said on a serious tone.

"Correction, they probably wouldn't kill you," she pointed out. "I've got enough stitches and scars to prove Lex isn't really concerned with my well being," she was silent for a few moments overlooking the factory then added: "Of course you have to understand you're putting Lex in a position to make a choice."

"What choice?" Lana asked frowning. "I just want to see with my own eyes if he's capable of doing that to Clark."

"Yeah, but think about it. If you do find Clark in a tank, you'll want to free him, right?" she asked and she nodded. "And Lex won't want you to do that. So he's going to have to choose between his love for you and this obsession of his for Clark. Given past choices, I really don't know what he's going to do."

Later, Lex was sitting in his office with a mountain of papers spread on his desk. Half of them were pictures of artifacts Isobel had – unknowingly to him - purchased during her travels. He also had a spreadsheet of every one of her bank accounts, half of which he didn't know about the existence of. She had been a very busy woman. And he had really believed she had simply let herself be swept away by the extravagant lifestyles of the rich and famous. His father was probably turning in his grave because of his incompetence. Thank god he was dead and not there to taunt him. His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door. He didn't say anything. He had asked not to be disturbed and all his calls to be held. Maybe whoever was at the door would simply go away. Instead the knocking continued until an exasperated Lex, yelled:

"Come in!"

The secretary appeared in the doorway, holding tightly on to the doorknob as if to make sure her escape would be guaranteed if Mr. Luthor was in one of his moods.

"I thought I said I don't want to be disturbed. By anyone," he reminded her on an icy tone.

"I know, but I really think you would want to take this call…," she said hesitantly. "It's about your wife."

"What? Put them through," he said suddenly very attentive. The secretary nodded, smiling very satisfied with herself that she had been right in her assumption and quickly made her way out of the office to put the telephone call through. As soon as the light blinked red on his phone, Lex picked it up and clearing his throat, said: "This is Lex Luthor."

"Mr. Luthor, this is Dr. Alexander Regis from the Luthorcorp A527 factory," the man introduced himself. "I thought you might want to know your wife has breached security here. Of course, we haven't done anything to stop her…"

"Is she alone?" he asked trying to keep his calm.

"No, she's with that woman from the Daily Planet…you know, the one we've had trouble with before?" he tried to remember her name.

"Chloe Sullivan," he filled in the blank.

"Yes, her," the doctor said. "What do you want us to do about the situation?"

"Don't let them know you've caught on. I'll be right there," Lex told him.

"But…Mr. Luthor, what if they get to the basement?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'll be right there," Lex only repeated and hung up. He immediately stood up and headed out of the office like a storm.

Back at Luthorcorp, Dr. Alexander Regis was following the two women on the screens worriedly. Ms. Sullivan hadn't known about the new cameras from LWM they had installed just a week ago. He had hoped Mr. Luthor would have allowed them to take appropriate actions to stop the intruders from further exploring their factory. Of course, the fact one of the intruders was Mrs. Luthor herself was problematic. He didn't understand why she hadn't come in through the front doors like she usually did. She had access to every part of the factory. There were no industrial secrets between the two Luthors as far as he knew. Then again, the strange happenings of the last few days did make him wonder. The disappearance of Mrs. Luthor, her resurfacing, her attempt to terminate Lang Pharmaceuticals, the destruction of one of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories by Mr. Luthor's orders... He knew all about them. News traveled fast among Luthorcorp employees. Obviously, it never traveled outside their ranks, but they themselves knew pretty much everything important that went down.

Seeing the two nearing the staircase that lead to the basement he started fidgeting nervously in his seat. He knew how Mr. Luthor felt about people finding out about his 'little green man'. He looked at the cameras in the parking lot to see if Mr. Luthor's car hadn't pulled up. Not yet. After a few more moments of consideration, he picked up one of the interior phones and called security.

"There are two intruders entering the basement area. Detain them without harming them," he ordered the men.

In the basement, Chloe and Lana were heading down a dark corridor only occasional illuminated by a stray ray of light coming from the neons in the ceiling. When they reached the end of it, they came across a steel door. It was closed shut. It had a complicated panel of buttons next to it with which – Chloe assumed – one could open the door. She pulled out a small jar from her investigation kit and prepared to blow dust onto the keys in hope of finding out which buttons she was supposed to press. Just as she unscrewed the lid, three men marched down the corridor toward them. Lana drew her attention toward them.

"Uh, I guess the cat's out of the bag," Chloe said sighing. Lana looked around desperately trying to find another way out of the basement. "Okay, now you're gonna have to use the acting skills Isobel's picked up over the years. Be bossy and bitchy," she encouraged her and Lana took in a deep breath as the security men neared them.

"What do you want?" Lana asked on a firm tone turning toward them.

"Mrs. Luthor?" one of the men recognized her. "I'm sorry, we were told there were intruders trying to break into the facility in the basement. The doctor must have not recognized you."

"Yeah, it's the clothes," she nodded with a shaky smile gesturing toward her sporty attire that Isobel wouldn't have been caught dead in.

"Doctor Regis," he picked up his walkie-talkie. "This is Murphy, it's just Mrs. Luthor and a friend of hers. Nothing to worry about."

"You twit, I know it's Mrs. Luthor," the doctor's voice echoed in the corridor and the security people looked at Lana suspiciously. "You are not to harm her, but make sure she doesn't enter the underground facility."

"Will do, doctor," he turned off the walkie-talkie and turned back toward Lana. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Luthor, but I'm afraid you'll have to come with us." Just as the man lunged for her, the basement facility's door opened and a man walked out. He stopped when he saw all the people gathered there and asked confused:

"What's going on here?"

Seizing the opportunity, Lana shoved him out of the way and ran inside. Chloe tried to follow her, but was grabbed harshly by one of security men. Inside, Lana found the laboratory from her flashes. Dark, full of ugly machines and tables with samples and needles. And there, in the center of the room, a great big tank, full of glowing green liquid in which the blurry shape of a man floated.

"So it's true," she muttered nearing the tank and a sigh escaped her. She had known all along that it was true. She had sensed it, but for some reason she had refused to believe it until she would have the evidence right in front of her. Now, she supposed, she could no longer lie to herself. She touched the surface of the tank inside which she could now recognize the form of Clark Kent. "Oh, Clark. You saved me so many times…I guess it's finally time I return the favor."

Returning to one of the tables she picked up a heavy object and nearing the tank, smashed the glass with it. She had to hit a few good times before she managed to make a crack in it. Then it was easier. The liquid started pouring out and with each blow the glass fell to pieces at her feet. The flow of kryptonite liquid reached one of the tables full of samples and the reactions with those substances ignited a fire, but Lana ignored it. Instead, she stepped into the now almost empty tank and up to her ankles in green liquid, she dragged Clark's body out of the tank. The fire was quickly catching up with her and she looked around desperately for an exit. She found it in Lex's private entrance that – unknowingly to her – lead straight up to the parking places. But the body was too heavy for her to carry alone and she collapsed on the floor with Clark right next to her just as the metal door of the lab opened a second time and Lex rushed inside, breathing heavily. He had come the other way in because he had been told by doctor Regis that Lana and Chloe had been stopped before they had a chance to enter the lab by the security people.

"Lana...let me explain this…," he muttered out of breath. He was separated from her by a wall of flames. Chloe appeared behind him, having freed herself from the security people's grasp and scanning the room, quickly assessed the situation and with a deep breath ran through the flames to the other side to help Lana carry Clark out. Before disappearing out the door, Lana looked back at Lex one last time and there was something awful in her eyes. Flames hotter than the ones spreading in front of him. A look of absolute hate. "Lana!" he yelled one last time after the door closed shut behind them.

_End Part 11_


	13. Part 12: Nothing is what it seems

Author's note: This is a revised Part 12 because I felt I had rushed the end of it before. There are no major changes, just a little bit of an expansion at the very end.

_**Part 12**_

_**Nothing is what it seems**_

They entered the small apartment struggling to drag the unconscious body of Clark Kent behind them. Chloe gestured with her head toward the bedroom and after she managed to slam the door shut with her foot, they slowly made their way toward it. They dropped him on the bed and breathing heavily, Chloe threw herself in an armchair. She hadn't really counted on them actually getting away with it. She had been sure Lex would instantly send someone after them, but instead they had been left free to walk off the Luthorcorp property and climb into her rental car.

"Do you think he's okay?" Lana asked on a worried tone brushing Clark's wet hair behind his ears as she sat perched up on the bed next to him.

"Well, he doesn't have any open wounds…he doesn't look sick…," Chloe pointed out eyeing the unconscious body for a few moments to make sure. "He was probably just sedated. He should snap out of it soon enough if that's the case."

"You really think that's all there is to it?" she asked a little skeptical.

"It's more than enough if he's been sedated and tested on for the last two years," she reminded her.

"I hope you're right," Lana said turning back toward him. She leaned down to look at his face. He looked like he was sleeping. Suddenly, Chloe's cellphone started ringing loudly, breaking the frail silence that had laid itself over the room. Startled, Chloe fumbled around until she found it and answered it in a breath:

"Chloe Sullivan."

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Perry's voice boomed in her ears making Lana turn toward Chloe and address her a questioning gaze. Chloe mouthed the word boss and made her way out of the room.

"Perry! I was just about to call you," she said once she was in the living room.

"Four days, Sullivan! Count them! Four freaking days and no story from you! The Enquirer got the exclusive on Lana Luthor's return and you've evaporated to god knows where!" he yelled hard enough for Chloe to be forced to hold the phone a few inches away from her ear.

"Come on, I'm working on something really big here…," she said half-heartedly.

"By all the time this story's taking you to research, I don't care if you were kidnapped by goddamn aliens!" he went on. "I need stories and I need them yesterday. Now get your ass back at the Planet or it'll land in an unemployment line tomorrow morning!"

"Perry, come on, just give me another day," she begged him. "It'll be worth your while," she lied while her mind raced to find a possible subject that would interest him. Maybe she could talk Lana into doing something outrageous so she'd come clean with the boss.

"I don't want to hear it, Sullivan. Back at the office. NOW!" he said one last time before hanging up.

"Perry, Perry…," she said helplessly, but he was already off the line. "Damn it!" she let out stomping the floor annoyed. Just when things were getting interesting…but she couldn't risk losing her job. It meant the world to her. She walked back into the bedroom where she found Lana in the same position she had left her in. "I have to go," she said sighing.

"Now?" Lana asked looking back at her distressed.

"Yeah, my boss' is having a hissy fit," she nodded. "I have to talk to him face to face, but I'll be back in a flash, okay?"

"Okay," she reluctantly agreed.

"If anything happens, I'm a phonecall away," she promised before grabbing her purse and making her way out of the apartment.

In his office at Luthorcorp, Lex was pacing in front of his desk, trying not to get too excited by the news he had just gotten. Gerard Bouvier was sitting down in a chair watching him nervously. A big old looking book was opened in front of him. After what had happened at Luthorcorp, he had lost all hope of finding a door left open in Isobel's plans, but now, the professor had offered him a solution he hadn't even dared dream of.

"And this will make it permanent?" he asked still not being able to believe it.

"Yes," he answered hesitantly. "It can be done on your request. If it's not too late."

"I see," he said pensively. The truth was he still had great doubts about going through with this plan, but he had no other choice. It was the only way to beat Isobel at her own game. "Make the preparations then."

"Y-yes, sir," he muttered and stood up dropping the book on the floor. He quickly picked it up and made his way out of the office. Alone, Lex took a deep breath and running his hands over his scalp, looked out the windows. It was a gamble. He was playing everything on one card and risked losing the entire deck. He knew that. And wondered what would happen if his gamble didn't pay off. Unconsciously, he started counting the floors down from his office and wondered how it would feel to fall from that height.

In Chloe's apartment, Lana had given up on waiting for Chloe to show up again. She was half-asleep, with her head leaned on the pillow, next to his, when Clark stirred awake. His eyes opened and he stared up at the ceiling, wondering where he was. The last thing he could remember was…he tried hard, but there was just a massive blank there somewhere. He half-stood up and only then noticed the slumbering Lana sitting in a chair next to the bed.

"Lana…," he whispered and he was sure there was something about her he should be remembering. She looked up at him sleepily and the reality of him being awake quickly sank in and all her tiredness seemed to disappear as she said with a bright smile:

"Clark!" and jumped in his arms where she knew she would be safe. Oddly enough, all she felt was a knot tightening in her stomach.

"What-what happened?" he asked as he instinctually wrapped his arms around her while his mind drifted away. Smallville. A second meteor shower. The North Pole. Lana in a coma. And then? What happened then? His mind was in a fog.

"Uhm, well…I-I…," she said pulling away from him. She didn't know how to say it, how to explain it all. "You…you were away…for a while…"

"Where was I gone?" he asked hesitantly. He didn't know whether she could answer. What if it was something related to his origin? The cave? Had he really been to the North Pole? Everything was wrong inside his mind.

"I don't know," she smiled weakly. "The truth is we've both been gone to strange far away places," she caressed his cheek lightly. "And I've been waiting forever to see you again," she leaned toward him and kissed him.

A little voice inside her mind was wondering what she was doing. Why had she lied to him? Why was she kissing him? Pushing him down on the bed? Because he wouldn't ask questions anymore? Because he would never want her again after he would find out what Isobel had done with her body? Maybe she just wanted to forget for a while everything that had happened. And another little voice wondered whether she shouldn't have let Lex help her forget? When he had come to her drunk. When he had showed up angry in her rundown apartment. When he had come home from work.

As Clark pulled her closer, unbuttoned her shirt with hesitant unskilled fingers and she urged him on as if he was a little child, she wondered if people that made love had time for that many thoughts.

"Are you sure about this?" he whispered in her ear, breathing heavily. "Maybe we shouldn't…," he was trying to back out of it. Too late, she said to herself as she placed a particularly enticing kiss on his muscular abdomen. She realized as he rolled on top of her that he probably still thought of her as the virginal small town queen. At least someone still thought of her that way.

An hour later she was pretending to be asleep in his arms. Their naked bodies were covered only in bundled up sheets and his hand was resting protectively against her right thigh. He had kissed her lightly on the forehead before closing his eyes. He was sleeping now and there was still that air of naïve innocence about him. That too-good-to-be-true glow. But she was no longer too-good-to-be-true. She had probably been something worth dreaming about a while ago, but now – no matter how much it hurt to admit it - there was nothing left of that person. She stood up from the bed feeling rather nauseous and pulled her clothes back on, then made her way to the bathroom, trying to make as little sound as possible as to not wake Clark up.

Once inside, she closed the door behind her and let her body slide to the floor. Tears formed in her eyes and she covered her face with her hands. What had she done? Why had she done it? Since when did she use sex to fix her problems? Since when did sex mean so little to her? That she had done it just to shut somebody up? And that somebody had been Clark! The person she knew she had been in love with…And it had been awkward, like a first time. She knew what to do, how to do it, her body knew how…but he…she held back a sob and stood up from the floor. It shouldn't have mattered because it was Clark. Who was the greatest person she had ever met. And she had done it without thinking it over twice, not even taking into consideration the fact they had been in Chloe's bed! God! What kind of person had she become? She looked at herself in the mirror and wiped away the tears that had fallen down her face.

Then something odd happened…Her reflection smiled although she most certainly did not.

"_You total slut,"_ her reflection said with a smirk. At first, she thought she was imagining it, then her mirror self spoke again: _"I have to hand it to you though, I really thought it would take you longer. You being the goody-goody two-shoes you were. But I guess I got under your skin pretty badly, huh?" _

"Isobel?" Lana asked incredulously.

"_In the fine mirror crystals, babe," _her reflection said smiling triumphantly. _"Kinda weird that we're meeting like this, isn't it? But I thought we should have a little heart to heart before I send you back to your cage." _

"I'm not going anywhere," she said firmly.

"_Oh, I think you are_," her reflection smiled. _"Actually, you'll be the one letting me back in charge."_

"Dream on," she said and a tone of obvious hate and disgust made its way into her voice.

"_Come now, Lana, you've served your purpose, it's time you walk proudly back into the beyond and let me handle the rest_," she said with an air of superiority.

"What purpose?" she asked confused.

"_You didn't think you came back on your own, did you?" _she chuckled when she saw Lana actually seemed to have believed that. _"That's rich! You're back because I let you get out of your little black box! Because I needed you. Clark stole something from me. I captured him and gave him to Lex, hoping he'd figure it out or well, kill him, and that certain something would come back to me of its own free will. But time just went on and on and nothing happened. I knew Clark would never give me what I wanted back, but he would give you anything…"_

"I'll never ask him for anything for you!" Lana protested.

"_Now see, the problem is you already got it back_," Isobel said smiling devilishly_. "My magical powers. During that little sports session back there,"_ she paused for a moment then added: _"He would've never slept with me. He would've known it wasn't you. The solution was obvious. I had to give him you. Of course, I had to make sure you'd find him first. Which I did…now, how about letting me back in control?"_

"Never," she said feeling used and hating Isobel for playing her the way she had.

"Honestly, Lana…," the reflection sighed. "What exactly do you have to go back to? To fix? Your parents are dead. Everyone you've ever known hates you or would sell you to the media for a couple of hundred dollars. You're killing thousands of people with contaminated pharmaceuticals daily. And now you're sitting in the bathroom crying and wondering why you don't even feel at ease with the man you think you love. And you know why that is, Lana? Because you're in love with Lex Luthor. I made sure you'd be if you ever regained control. I mean, look at you, you've just made love to the one man you think you love and your entire body is recalling nothing but Lex Luthor's touch," she laughed. "Face it, I've ruined you and not all the king's horses or all the king's men are going to put you back together."

Lana didn't know what to reply. She knew her words were true. And just like that, Lana Lang gave up. What else could she do? Fight to prove her wrong? Fight what? Who? What? How? As she slowly slipped into the backseat of her own body she thought of Clark and Lex and Chloe and wondered what would happen from then on. What would Isobel do with Clark now that she had what she wanted back? What would she do to Chloe now that she had access to everything the reporter had confessed to Lana? And Lex…Lex… She had no strength to answer herself because there was no part of her left untainted, untouched inside, there was nothing there that belonged only to her. Isobel had turned every bit of her upside down, making sure there was nothing left for her to rescue. Calling Lana Lang…, a voice – her own? – muttered weakly and the fading consciousness answered it: I'm sorry, Lana Lang doesn't live here anymore.

Lana Luthor looked at herself in the mirror, blinked and reaching into her pocket, took out her cellphone and dialed a number. It rang three times before a male voice answered her and she said:

"This is Lana Luthor and if you hang up, I'll have you eviscerated faster than you can say it wasn't me," the person on the other end of the line didn't hang up. She smiled.

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Luthor?" he sounded hesitant, maybe even a little frightened. He had been assured there would be no repercussions for doing the job on the Lang Pharmaceuticals factory.

"I want to send a message to my husband. For future reference. I want a factory blown up. Any Luthorcorp factory will do. And I want it done today," she emphasized in the end.

"Should I wait for nightfall?" he asked not bothering to ask for a reason. He knew questioning the actions of the Luthors, especially when directed at each other, was useless. And unfortunately, he happened to be on both their payrolls which made it even more difficult.

"Why in heaven's name would I want you to do that?" she asked confused.

"The security staff is the only one usually there during the night," he pointed out. "A few hundred people work there during the day."

"Oh, yes, the body count. Do it in daylight anyway, it'll make a bigger impression," she dismissed his concerns. "I'll be able to wear black in court and pretend I'm in mourning," she mused to herself and added after a moment: "Oh and if my husband finds out anything about this before he should, consider yourself terminated," she hung up and satisfied with herself, dialed another number. "Hello, this is Lana Luthor, send a car to pick me up. I'm in this tacky little apartment on the east side…," she said and catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror she waved a hand over her face instantly applying a layer of make-up to it. "Better," she muttered and smiled.

_End Part 12 _


	14. Part 13: Back in town

_**Part 13**_

_**Back in town**_

She was standing next to the bed, back in her perfect Armani business suit, with high heels that would make any woman scream in pain and a necklace more expensive than the entire building she was in. Her hair, back to its shampoo commercial perfection, her earrings, exquisite, her make-up flawless. She was from head to toe, from hair tip to spotless black heel, Lana Lang-Luthor, Metropolis ruthless business woman, fashion goddess, tabloid dream queen. And of recent, real life witch.

She looked at the naked body still sleeping in the bed and grimaced. She kicked the bed lightly with her foot, hoping it would jolt him awake. He didn't even stir. Deciding she didn't want to ruin her shoes by kicking the mattress until he woke up, she reached out and shook him.

"Clark, honey, it's time to wake up," she said on a forcefully sweet tone.

"Lana…," his eyes half-opened, he smiled lazily at her and reached out to her, but she pulled away before he had a chance to drag her down in his arms.

"We have to get out of here," she told him throwing him some clothes she had asked the driver to bring with him when he came.

"But…why? What happened?" he asked standing up and looking at her confused.

"It's Lex," she instantly said. "He's sent people after you. To put you back in the tank."

"Are you sure?" he asked, but started getting dressed nonetheless.

"Yes…," she paused for a moment wondering what she could say to convince him: "Chloe called and said so."

"Where are we going?" he asked once he was dressed.

"My place," she said with a smile.

At the Luthorcorp offices, Lex was waiting impatiently for Bouvier and another older man he had brought with him to finish what they were doing. He felt as if he was expecting results from a wee gee board. Candles were spread on the floor, incantations were spoken, strange smelling things were burnt, symbols were drawn and all he could think of is that it was all too far fetched and hoped the media wouldn't find out anything about it. Occultism was the last thing he needed on his already widely inflourished resume.

"It's not working," Bouvier suddenly said, opening his eyes and turning toward Lex.

"You said this was a sure thing," he reminded him.

"It is, I don't understand how…," he turned back toward the book opened on the floor next to him. A knock on the door distracted Lex's attention and he preferred to slip out of the office instead of letting anyone see what was happening inside.

"What is it?" he asked his baffled secretary once he closed the door shut behind him and was now standing in his office's reception room where she had her desk. She looked horrified by something. Lex frowned. Had she been able to sneak a peak at what was going on in his office? "Is everything all right?" he asked, already calculating a proper sum in exchange for her silence.

"I-I think you should see this, Mr. Luthor," she said and her voice was shaky as she gestured toward the flat TV screen on the opposite wall that was showing a breaking news report.

"…_less than an hour before. The number of casualties has risen to a staggering 159 and over 100 wounded. The firemen are still struggling to put out the flames and the number of victims of this tragic incident is sure to rise once they will be able to search through the rubble. Authorities believe the explosion to be connected to the destruction of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factory that took place only yesterday. A possible connection between the two incidents would strengthen the hypothesis of industrial terrorism…," _the reporter announced and Lex stared at the screen incredulous. But that could mean only one thing…

"Mr. Luthor? Are you okay?" the secretary asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine," he muttered and still in shock headed back to his office. Bouvier and the old man were standing at his desk now, reviewing every word in the book, making sure they had gotten it right.

"Mr. Luthor," Bouvier jumped when he saw him reentering the office. "I don't know what went wrong…It should've worked. The spell was perfect!" he paused for a moment, giving the writing in the book another once over to make sure - for the millionth time - the spell was the right one. "I took every precaution. Every ingredient was carefully chosen. The words pronounced…"

"What if she wasn't in the right…disposition?" Lex asked looking at him with an unflinching gaze.

"You mean…if she…if Mrs. Luthor…oh, my," Bouvier let out. "Are you certain?"

"Let's just say she left me a pretty clear message," he replied dryly.

On the east side, Chloe was returning home to an empty apartment. Perry had kept her at the Daily Planet all day. She had been sent to press conferences and requested to write half a dozen articles she had neglected while helping Lana out. And there had been nothing she could have said or done to change his mind. She had somehow passed way beyond his bullshit toleration limit. And since Lana hadn't called at all, although she had kept her cellphone open all day precisely for that, she took it as a sign that everything was all right.

"I'm back!" she yelled from the living room as she threw her jacket on a chair. "Sorry it took so long, but my boss was not in the best of moods," she added as she headed for the bedroom. "So how are you guys…," she stopped mid-sentence when she saw the bedroom was empty. "Lana?" she rushed through the entire apartment. "Clark?" Nothing. They were nowhere in sight. Returning to the bedroom she started frantically searching for some sort of note. Although if they had left of their own free will they would've called, wouldn't they have? Nothing. She started having that bad feeling in her gut that had become her sixth sense since her early days at the Torch. Something bad had happened.

At Lana Luthor's penthouse apartment, Clark looked around the spacious – obviously very expensive surroundings – feeling out of place. Just like Clark Kent to feel awkward in a few million dollars worth apartment, Isobel mused to herself as she gestured for him to sit down.

"Is this really yours?" Clark asked as he sat down on the couch hesitantly, fearing to touch anything and ruining it.

"Yes. What, you don't think I could ever provide for myself like this?" she asked with a smirk.

"N-no!" he instantly denied it. "It's just…it doesn't look like you."

"Pretty expensive things don't fit me?" she twisted his words around.

"No…," he shook his head and sighed frustrated, but before he could rephrase his words again, she interfered:

"You're probably tired. I didn't let you sleep at all. How thoughtless of me," she said with a sheepish smile.

"No, it's all right, really. I feel like I've slept enough," he assured her, but her smile instantly faded and she added on a more forced tone:

"Oh, I think you should sleep," and her eyes glowed purple as they stared into his. Clark blinked and felt his eyelids were heavy.

"On second thought…maybe I am a little tired," he admitted rubbing his eyes.

"Of course you are," the smile was back and she helped him off the couch. "The spare bedroom is the second door on the right," she gestured toward a corridor and pressing her lips lightly to his let him make the rest of the journey by himself. She watched him go for a moment and then turned on her heels and went back into the living room.

At Luthorcorp, Lex was in the middle of a meeting with his executive board in his office concerning the factory that had been destroyed that day. Suddenly, the door was slammed open and Chloe Sullivan marched into the office with his secretary on her heels.

"Ms. Sullivan!" the secretary called out to her exasperated. "Mr. Luthor, I'm sorry, I tried to stop her, but…"

"It's all right," Lex assured her with his eyes on a terribly angry looking Chloe. "Would you excuse us for a few moments, gentlemen?" he gestured for his business partners to exit the office. The men, although a little unsatisfied, stood up and left the room. Once they were alone, Chloe exploded:

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM!"

"Do to who?" he asked frowning.

"You know who I'm talking about!" she snapped at him. "I know it was you!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he denied any involvement in the disappearance of Clark and Lana.

"What you did to Clark is bad enough, but I won't let you…," she was about to make a threat, but he stopped her:

"Chloe, I'm not being evasive here. I didn't send anyone to find Lana or bring Clark back," he assured her. "I have bigger problems on my hands or haven't you bothered to turn on a TV today?"

"The factory," she suddenly recalled. She had completely forgotten about it. Perry had kept her off any Luthor related story all day. "But…you were the one that blew up the Lang Pharmaceuticals factory…there would've been no reason to…" and the truth of what had happened suddenly seemed to dawn on her.

"I had nothing to do with it," he denied it with a thin smile that proved he knew what direction her mind was racing in.

"But…it was her! I know it was her! She couldn't have faked it that long!" Chloe said incredulous.

"It was her," he nodded. "But I'm afraid she's gone now."

"Shit," Chloe closed her eyes. Her mind quickly went over everything she had told Lana and realized horrified how much she had let her guard down around her. "Damn it, damn it, damn it,' she muttered, angry with herself for never taking into consideration the possibility of this ever happening.

"No use crying over spilled milk," Lex told her calmly. "You have to leave Metropolis for the time being."

"I'm not going anywhere without Clark. If you think for one moment that I'm going to leave him at your mercy or that of your twisted jackal of a wife, you got another thing coming," she said and stormed out of the office. Left alone, Lex sighed. How easily things fell back into place, he thought to himself as his partners came back in the office.

Back at Lana's apartment, Clark was just waking up. He felt woozy. Like he had been sedated or worse. Standing up from the bed, he tried to shake off that feeling. He hadn't even taken off his shoes. He hadn't realized he had been that tired. His mind was still in a blur. Everything after the second meteor shower was confusing. He knew some time had passed since then. He had seen new buildings he had never seen before in downtown Metropolis, including the one he was in right then. But Lana and Chloe looked almost unchanged. Which meant it wasn't a too long period of time. A year? Two? Not more than three. And there was something off about Lana. The way she dressed. The way she talked. That apartment. There was something she wasn't telling him. Maybe she had become a model and won a lot of money…she was beautiful enough…maybe… He stood up from the bed and sighed. And what had happened earlier…he had flashes of her beautiful naked body beneath his…it had all happened so fast his mind had barely registered it. He wondered whether it had happened at all by the way Lana had behaved after he had woken up. Maybe he had dreamt it all, but the memory of her lips, her warmth denied that possibility.

He left the room and seeing that the living room was empty, he started wandering around the massive apartment searching for her.

"Lana?" he called out to her as he opened the door to one of the guest rooms only to find it was empty. Hearing sounds coming from one of the bedrooms at the end of the corridor, he made his way to it and with a smile, slowly pushed the door open. "Lana?" he asked but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw she was truly there, naked, on top of some stranger he had never seen before in his life.

"Clark! You're already up?" she asked looking back at him and the man beneath her half-stood up to see who she was talking to. Clark felt like his world was crumbling, like his heart had been smashed into pieces and thrown out with the garbage. So he did the only thing he could: he ran out of the bedroom, out of the apartment, out of Metropolis, at superspeed, toward the only place that could offer him some sort of comfort: Smallville.

"Who was that?" Quentin Terrane asked with a frown, not paying much attention to the speed at which the stranger had disappeared at.

"Oh, no one," she assured him turning back toward him with a smile. "So, did you bring it?" she asked getting off of him and walking over to where his clothes laid scattered on the floor.

"Yeah, it's in the left pocket of my pants," he told her letting his head back down on the pillow. "But I have to get it back today. If my old man sees it's missing he's going to freak."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll take it back," she assured him picking up his pants and fishing out a small strangely shaped artifact - that looked at least a few hundred years old - from his pocket.

"I don't get why you wanted to see it so badly," he said leaning on his elbow.

"You wouldn't, would you now?" she said staring at the stone. Then turning toward him raised her right arm. Quentin suddenly floated a few inches above the bed.

"Wow, what the hell's happening?" he asked trying to get down.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep this," she said holding up the artifact.

"But, you can't!" Quentin yelled. "My father would kill me…"

"You really shouldn't be afraid of your father at this point, Quentin," she said with a smirk and he suddenly flew across the room, hitting the wall hard. Before he had a chance to come to, she threw him in the opposite wall and snapping her fingers she broke his neck like a twig. "There, I think your father won't be able to kill you anymore," she said with a smile kneeling down next to him and placing a kiss on his lips.

Then standing up, she smiled looking at the stone in her hand. Walking over to the nightstand, she picked up her cellphone and dialed a number. When the person on the other end of the line picked up, she said:

"I need a clean up crew at my apartment. There's been an accident."

At the Luthorcorp offices, Lex was finally alone. He had had an incredibly busy day. Assessing the loses, giving statements, speaking to the insurance companies, deciding the compensations for the families that had lost someone in the explosion. Now, he was standing at his desk, alone, with a glass of much deserved scotch in front of him. Most of his employees had gone home and his secretary, who had stuck by him bravely all day, had left only moments ago. There was a light knock on the door.

"Come in," he answered, thinking that perhaps his secretary had forgotten something. He stared into his glass tiredly and when he looked up to see who had entered his office, he wasn't surprised of who he found. Lana Luthor stood in the doorway, in one of her perfect outfits, with her perfect smile and perfect make-up. She closed the door behind her, and putting her hand over the lock closed it with a puff of violet energy that wasn't lost on him.

"Hello, Mr. Luthor," she said with a smirk as she neared him. She stopped only when she was in front of the desk. "Well, here we are again. Just the two of us," she said leaning toward him over the desk, making sure he would get a good view down her cleavage. "I hope you're not terribly upset with me," she said on a mocking tone, but he didn't react, simply staring at her instead. Her smile faded and she stood up. Crossing her arms over her chest, she faked annoyance: "Is that how it's going to be then? A few days with the small town princess and I'm suddenly not good enough for you anymore?" she smiled seductively as she walked around the desk toward him. "But she didn't know what you needed, Alexander, did she now?" she turned his chair toward her and leaned down toward him and whispered in his ear: "I know she didn't," as her hand settled on his thigh, slowly working its way up.

Only then did Lex react. He stood up abruptly, grabbed her by the arms and kissed her. Fiercely, passionately, with all the need that had been buried inside him and suppressed the last few days. He cleared the desk with one hand and then pushed her down on it. Isobel didn't lift a finger to stop him, only smiled victoriously over his shoulder while he was kissing his way down her neck.

_End Part 13 _


	15. Part 14: Goodbye, Isobel

**_Author's note:_** Sorry for the shorter part, but I wanted this to be a stand alone thing. Also sorry for my absence, I'm back in the city I attend university in and it took me a while to get myself settled in.

_**Part 14**_

_**Goodbye, Isobel**_

"Mmm, almost forgot how good that felt," Isobel muttered perched up as she was on his desk, naked, crossing her legs provocatively and looking over at Lex, now half dressed, with a seductive smile. He stared at her for a moment intently, then shaking his head – as if to chase away some sensual fantasies – picked his shirt off the floor. Instead of putting it on however, he neared her and wrapped it around her shoulders gently. She accepted it and pulled it on. He started meticulously buttoning the shirt with the care a parent would probably do it for a child. She looked at him with a frown and then removed his hands. "Stop it. I'm not her."

"And I would feel better if you let me pretend you were," he said sighing and stepped away from her, heading toward the bar to pour himself his by now familiar glass of scotch.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic," she said grimacing and hopping off the desk.

"Stop pretending to care," he replied looking back at her with a half smile.

"What's that suppose to me?" she asked faking offense.

"Almost forgot how good that felt?" he raised his eyebrows. "I found out something interesting this afternoon. From our 'cleaning crew'. Apparently Quentin Terrane's body was swiped off the floors of your apartment. Autopsy said he was in post-coital bliss."

"Are you jealous?" she asked smirking.

"Of a corpse?" he asked and took a sip of his scotch. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Maybe I was talking about you before…," she suggested nearing him, but he walked away from her before she had a chance to invade his private space. She sighed. "Okay. What's wrong? Is this about the factory? Because that was your own fault. You started it, you knew it would end here."

"No, it's not about the factory," he stated calmly, staring down into his glass pensively.

"Are we keeping secrets now, Alexander?" she asked tilting her head to catch his gaze.

"I don't know about we, Isobel, but you have most certainly proven to be more than just a little secretive," he pointed out.

"I thought you would be proud," she pouted crossing her arms over her chest.

"Stunned would be a better choice," he suggested instead emptying the glass with one swift motion.

"But didn't you feel…," she neared him again and taking the glass from his hands and setting it aside, put her hands around his neck. "…just a little bit proud that it was your wife who had seen it all through?"

"No," he pulled away. "I would've been proud if you had told me about it before setting it into motion."

"But what's the point of bragging with something that only exists in theory? About something you could do or want to do? I always believed the best way to impress a person is to put it in front of an already completed plan," she explained, leaning on the bar and looking serious for once.

"All this was just to impress me then?" he raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"Of course not, silly. Although I do love your money and power and just a little bit you, it was never enough. Metropolis wasn't enough. I hoped you would see it, but you were blinded by…other things," she grimaced the way she always did when referring to his hopeless love of all things Lana Lang. "So…I took it in my own hands and one way or another, I will rule the world. With or without you, Alexander."

"Not if I have a say in it," he said in a warning tone.

"You think you can stop me? At this point? There is a reason for which you only found out now. There is no way back. Metropolis will fall pray to Lang Pharmaceuticals and the world will follow shortly," she raised her voice.

"You're right, I can't stop _your plans_," he admitted. "But I can stop you."

"Don't be ridiculous," she laughed. "You would never harm this body. And if you – by some great miracle – could bring yourself to want to harm it, then I'm afraid you'd have a hell of a time trying to get to it," and to emphasize her words she formed a translucent shield around herself.

"I guess someone got her old bag of tricks back," he noted unimpressed. He had realized by now she had probably regained her powers. He had been told of the unusual aspects of Quentin Terrane's death. "Unfortunately for you, that's exactly what signed your own death sentence. You never thought Bouvier would amount to anything more than blowing dust off old books."

"Bouvier? Please! That worthless piece of decaying flesh?" she laughed dryly. "What could he possibly do to harm me?"

"Find your old spell book? How about that for starters?" he suggested.

"He's had it for over a year now," she scoffed. "He was trying to find a solution to my bodily predicament…," she started saying, but trailed off as soon as she realized something. "That little weasel."

"You were the one that left the books in his care," Lex said with a satisfied grin. "You made one fatal mistake: you underestimated someone you thought was harmless. No one's harmless, Isobel, I thought you would've learnt that by now."

"You forced him into it then? Told him what was really going on?" she asked a little troubled.

"You left me no other choice," he sighed.

"And you're willing to go through with it?" she asked incredulous. "Now?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Oh and if I were you I wouldn't be thinking about tracking Bouvier down at this point. I made sure he'd be in a place where you and your powers couldn't reach him."

"Why would you want to do it? At this point?" she turned serious. "Lana doesn't love you and once she'll grasp the enormity of everything you've allowed me to do with her body, she will hate you with the heat of a thousand suns. I'll make her remember everything. Every dark deed we've schemed, every dirty little thing we've done, every word we spoke to each other until she'll be so ashamed of herself that the first thing she'll do when she wakes up will be to jump off a fucking building!"

"No. She won't," he shook his head. "She's strong and she'll know it was not her making those calls."

"You overestimate your small town princess, Lex. Get her off that damn pedestal you've put her up on and you'll see she's nothing but a common girl your overheated imagination coated in gold. She'll never be what you want her to be. The perfect wife, the womb from which a new generation of Luthors will rise victoriously," she snapped. "By the time her memory's going to be fully restored, she won't let you touch her with a ten foot pole let alone conceive your bastard children that you've been raving on about for two years now…" she stopped for a moment and then went on, reaching out with her hand to caress his naked shoulder. "While I on the other hand might be open to suggestions…"

"Haven't we already played this game?" he asked pulling away.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you actually believed me back then," she scoffed. Lex remained serious. She chuckled: "I would've pegged you for a million things, Lex Luthor, but never a naïve."

"You have…," he looked at the watch on the wall, "about two hours left…is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"Yes…DIE!" she yelled and Lex suddenly flew into the windows, but nothing happened. He fell to the floor and laughed:

"We had extrastrong Plexiglas installed last month after two members of our executive board decided to kill themselves by jumping out the windows in the middle of a meeting, remember?" he reminded her and knocked on the window above him as if to prove their efficiency. He pulled himself together and stood up. "I have to admit, I am going to miss this. However," he said nearing her. "There are more pleasant ways of spending your last two hours than trying to kill me…" he raised her chin up with one finger and when she pulled away roughly, he grabbed her indelicately and kissed her forcefully.

"This can't be your choice," she muttered breathlessly when he pulled away.

"You and I would've made a fine pair a few centuries ago, Isobel, but I'm afraid this is no longer your time," he replied while his hands made their way beneath her shirt with expert moves.

"And what do you plan on doing now? You'll become a good little boy? You've tried it before, but it didn't work, remember?" she reminded him as the shirt slipped off her shoulders.

"No, I'll continue to do what I do best. I know she'll forgive me, out of the goodness of her heart," he muttered as he nuzzled her neck.

"While she has a heart," she replied smirking and then added with genuine disdain in her voice: "I hope you rot in hell."

"Not before you," he replied before he kissed her again and pulled her closer.

When Lana Lang woke up, she was not alone. She had a strange yet familiar feeling running through her body. Something she – or her mind – had not grown accustomed to yet, but her body seemed to fully understand and enjoy. The blood rushing through her veins was the first sensation she came into contact with, then her heart beating hard against her ribcage. Her eyes opened and she realized she was staring at the ceiling. Her mouth was half open and she had let out a sound of…pleasure? Her eyes turned away from the ceiling and looked down.

"Oh god…," she let out, but instead of the words coming out as a shock or surprise as she had intended, they were moaned and seemed to have a totally different connotation. She felt like her face was about to turn a deep shade of red, but then realized it was rather ridiculous to blush at this point, while she was naked on top of a just as naked Lex and their bodies were…uhm, intimate. Her body didn't seem to care which consciousness currently resided within it, it was moving in ways Lana had never imagined, making her mind spin and ecstatic sensations run through her entire being... She knew she had to stop, to pull away…Lex had betrayed her, betrayed Clark and was probably thinking she was Isobel at that very moment. A little voice inside her mind wondered why she couldn't let him think that and let him do all those things she was afraid to remember to her…No, she had to stop it, but, but, but…she found herself chanting and when Lex half-stood up and looked into her eyes, she knew all it would take would be one word, but instead of telling him to stop, she found herself kissing him and then burying his head between her breasts.

When it was over and she was resting against his chest with a dazed look in her eyes, without saying a word, but absently playing with a button of the disregarded shirt lying next to them, Lex knew she was Lana. He wanted to say something – anything – to make her forgive him for everything that had happened in the past. For Clark. For Isobel. For everything he had allowed and he had done. He realized that in truth, he would do anything for her, if only she stayed with him. Screw crime, screw corporate frauds and world dominance…having her with him would mean he had won the world ten times over. He found that he could not say anything though. He was too afraid that any sound would break whatever magic had made her not scream out horrified when he was making love to her. He knew however that no one moment could last forever.

"Lana…," he muttered and that single word was enough to break the spell and Lana stood up from his chest and her warmth was gone and so was the heart that had been beating next to his.

"I-I have to go," she said hesitantly, her eyes cast downwards as if to not register his or her own nudity. She noticed some clothes scattered on the carpet that could have only been Isobel's and she started putting them on in silence. He didn't say anything. He took his pants on and the shirt without buttoning it. Once she was dressed, Lana headed for the door without another word. Lex neared her and put a hand on the door to stop her from opening it.

"Will I see you home tonight?" he asked her.

"I'm going back to Smallville," she told him finally looking up at him. He couldn't read anything in her eyes. There was something unrecognizable in them. Like it was not the old Lana Lang anymore, not Isobel either, but something different. He let go of the door and Lana rushed out of the office. Outside, in the reception area, Lex's secretary was just coming in. It was morning. She noticed her boss's appearance, but said nothing. She sat down at her desk and pretended not to have seen anything unusual.

_End Part 14_


	16. Part 15: Return home

_**Part 15 **_

_**Return home/Isobel's final farewell**_

There were over thirty people in the office, twenty were on the phone, files were spread everywhere, notes seemed to cover every inch of free space. A giant map of the city had been hung on the wall over Lex's expensive paintings and several dots were highlighted on it. That's why Chloe Sullivan was more than a little surprised when she burst into the office expecting to find Lex Luthor alone at his desk.

"Miss Sullivan!" the frustrated secretary yelled after her, but Chloe simply shut the door in her face and started searching the crowd for Lex. She found him standing next to his desk, holding a phone between his chin and shoulder as he wrote something down on the back of an important looking document. Although confused by all the commotion, Chloe put on her most serious face and neared him as he hung up the phone and turned to one of the many people present in his office.

"Just put it up next to the others," he told him and handed him the piece of paper. He looked up at Chloe and she noticed how tired he looked, like he hadn't slept in days. "Chloe…what brings you to this neck of the woods again? Or are you making a habit out of disturbing my meetings?"

"I'd like to know just what the hell's going on," she said annoyed and threw the latest number of the Enquirer on the desk in front of him. The first page title announced in big bold letters: "Lana Luthor jumps ship" and beneath it in smaller letters "The Metropolis vixen has packed her bags and returned to her hometown Smallville. The Enquirer exclusive inside." Underneath the title there was a picture of Lana on the streets of Smallville.

"Lana went home," was all he said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do."

"No, I'm not going to excuse you!" Chloe let out. "If you think you can get rid of me that easily you got another thing coming! Lana and Clark went missing from my apartment. Next I hear she makes some decisions that sound more and more like Isobel - blowing up the Luthorcorp factory is the best example for it and you didn't deny it. And now she's in Smallville, you're here and obviously freaking out over something."

"Look, this isn't the time or place to discuss this," Lex told her sighing.

"Yes, it so is," she disagreed. "Or do you want me to tell everyone about the ALIEN in your basement?" she said loud enough so everyone in the room could hear her. Her words attracted a few curious glances. Lex pulled her out of the room by the arm annoyed.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked her once they were in his office's reception area. He shot his secretary a glance and the girl instantly stood up and headed out of the room.

"Getting you to be honest with me," she said with a smirk. "You owe me at least that much after everything you've done to Clark and Lana!"

"You can't understand what…," he started saying, but she interrupted him scoffing:

"Can't understand! Ha! Of all the stupid excuses you could come up with, Lex…I had you figured out since Smallville you know. Then again you never bothered much to convince _me_ you were the poster boy for the misunderstood good guy," she shook her head. "And you're standing there pretending I don't have a clue of what's been going on lately," she made a pause before she went on: "Are you willing to bet on it? It has something to do with those plans Isobel put together. About the chemical composure of the products Lang Pharmaceuticals has been selling. But if Isobel's gone though I'm sure everything's going to be easier to fix…"

"Yeah, she's gone now, but what she's done… We can't stop it anymore," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"I mean something very bad will happen very soon," he replied.

"How soon?" she asked frowning.

"Like this afternoon for example," he sighed. "We've tried our best to delay it, but the situation's starting to turn critical. Haven't you noticed the nervous people in the streets?"

"Come to think of it, people were a lot more testy than usual this morning, but I blamed it on the traffic," she admitted.

"Right now, over 70 of Metropolis's population has been in contact or taken at least once products manufactured by Lang Pharmaceuticals…," she stopped for a second. "You didn't happen to take anything made by them did you?"

"Nah, I never trusted her to produce genuine medication," she assured him.

"Good," he said quickly.

"What did she do? Exactly?" she asked although she realized it was probably something she would rather not know.

"The drugs contain an addictive substance. It's their 'miracle' ingredient. It makes the body believe it's healed although the disease continues to progress undisturbed. That's the reason people have been dying by using their medication as treatment. Doctors haven't realized the problem because the substance can't be broken down into recognizable particles. That's why the medication was approved as well. It was impossible to find something wrong with it. It was Isobel's mix. People didn't even realize they were hooked on it because the prescribed doses were large enough to meet their addictive demands. For those who had non-fatal diseases however the addiction starts showing after six months. The drugs don't affect their mental state, just gives them a general feeling of healthiness so they can continue to work and interact without major changes…," he explained.

"Unless someone cut them off," she realized. "She wanted to control them through the drugs."

"Precisely," he nodded. "The secret ingredient…no one beside her can make it. I don't know if she used magic for it, or some sort of unknown alien rock residue, but it can't be reproduced by any laboratories except those at Lang Pharmaceuticals. But that's not even the worst of it…"

"Shock me," Chloe said raising her eyebrows.

"The addiction can't be cured and it takes only one dose to get it started. Once you take a pill, you're lost," he said.

"Oh my god," she let out. "Lang Pharmaceuticals released a world wide product only a few weeks ago. If it affects everyone who takes it…"

"There is one solution," he admitted. "It won't cure anyone, but it will put a definite end to it."

"You mean destroy the factories?" she understood. "Won't that send people into withdrawal?"

"If there was such a thing as withdrawal," he rubbed his face tiredly. "No, I'm afraid everyone that took the drugs is going to spend the rest of their lives looking for more."

"Geez," she still couldn't believe it.

"We have to deal with the immediate implications of our actions though. The destruction of Lang Pharmaceuticals is going to create panic and chaos on a grand scale. If we can contain it, it will die down and the addicts will be able to continue their everyday lives even if constantly searching for a fix they can no longer be provided with," he said. "Psychologists I've spoken to about this have pointed out the fact it will probably be responsible for many suicides on the long term."

"Well, you can't continue to make the drugs just so they can continue to lie to themselves that they're healthy," she said and for the slightest of moments she was afraid Lex might do the unthinkable and continue with Isobel's plans for his own personal benefit. Perhaps Lex would have considered the possibility if he had known how to obtain Isobel's secret ingredient, but since he didn't, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

"You're right," he agreed. "You wanted to know the truth, there it is."

"And Lana?" she reminded him.

"She just decided to go home. She didn't give me a reason for it," he simply answered her. "I suggest you get out of town for the next few days for your own safety. Maybe visit Smallville."

"Thanks for the concern, I didn't know you cared," she smiled. "But I'm a journalist and my job's to be right where the action is. And I have a sneaking suspicion the eyes of the world are going to be fixed on Metropolis this week."

"Take care of yourself," he told her as she headed for the door, giving her that patented Luthor smirk.

"Don't worry, I will," she assured him with a last grin before she closed the door shut behind her.

"Mr. Luthor, the mayor wants to speak to you," a man came out of his office to tell him.

"I'll be right there," Lex told him and sighing turned on his heels and walked back into his office.

Far away from Metropolis, in Smallville, Lana Lang felt like she was walking into a dream. She realized now that it was a while since she had been there. Because everything seemed foreign somehow, yet familiar and although she was already there for more than a day, she just couldn't get used to it. Most of the buildings had been rebuilt and few still had the same shape or size, but there were tiny bits of them that still reminded her of the Smallville she knew. There, that part of the highschool was still the same, there, the football field, there, a corner of the Talon, there, Lex's mansion, there, the windmill. She absently wondered as she drove past Lex's mansion who lived there now. Obviously Lex had made it his business to make sure the castle looked as if it had never been touched by a meteor shower, but for whom?

Since she had gotten hostile reactions upon her arrival to Smallville, she had been very hesitant about taking the step that needed to be taken. She had allowed herself to postpone the visit for one day, but promised herself she would not wait longer than that. It was strange how everyone seemed to hate her there. In Metropolis it was something like a combination of hate and admiration. Although she was despised she was sought out constantly, but here…here the food got caught in her throat when she ate alone at the inn's restaurant because of all the angry glares she was getting. Had Isobel done something to Smallville too?

The car stopped in front of the Kent house and she smiled when she realized they had rebuilt it exactly the same as it had been before. Stepping out of the car, she neared the door. It was open. She entered the house hesitantly.

"Clark?" she called out to him. No one answered. She moved toward the kitchen and found Mrs. Kent there, baking something. She looked at her shocked and the spoon she had in her hand dropped to the floor. "Hi, Mrs. Kent," she said and suddenly felt ashamed of herself for everything she was sure she knew about her life over the last two years.

"Mrs. Luthor," she replied on a chilling tone that Lana had never heard her use before. With anyone. She was always such a kind loving person, even to those who didn't deserve it. An uncomfortable silence laid itself over the kitchen. Martha leaned over and picked up the fallen spoon and walking over to the sink, started washing it. "You know, you have some nerve coming here after everything you've done," she said, not looking at her for a second.

"Mrs. Kent, I…," she didn't know how to say it. She didn't even know where to start. "I'm sorry for everything I might have done to upset you over the last two years…"

"You're sorry," she laughed bitterly. "For what? For caging my son up? For breaking his heart? For betraying us all?"

"That…that wasn't me…look, when I woke up…after the meteor shower…That wasn't me. It was Isobel. I just…I just woke up a few days ago," she tried to explain, but she knew just how crazy it all sounded. Sometimes she had trouble believing it herself.

"And I suppose, out of the goodness of your heart, you slept with Clark and then jumped into bed with someone else who wasn't even your husband?" she asked scoffing. "When he came here, with his heart in pieces, he didn't even know you were married to Lex! I had to tell him that. You know how hard that was? To explain to him that you and him…and all the rotten things you've done over the last two years?"

"It wasn't me! It was Isobel I swear! She came back, but now she's gone for good," she said distressed. "Even the tattoo's gone."

"We all want to blame someone for our mistakes, Lana," she said shaking her head.

"Please, listen to me, I will do anything you want me to do to prove that I'm telling the truth," she said tears forming in her eyes.

"I want only one thing from you," she replied coolly. "Leave and never come back. Never bother Clark again."

"Mrs. Kent…," she was sobbing by now.

"Get out before I take my husband's shotgun out of the closet," she said not even looking up at her. Lana Luthor had said and done enough things since her marriage to Lex Luthor to leave even the kindest of hearts cold to her tears.

Lana ran out of the house and got back in her car where she struggled to stop herself from crying again. As she started the engine, she saw someone outside the barn. Biting her lip, she got out of the car again and ran toward him.

"What are you doing here?" Clark asked frowning when he noticed her approaching.

"I wanted to explain. Everything," she said wiping her wet cheeks with her sleeve.

"There's nothing to explain. Mom told me everything," he told her on an angry tone walking into the barn.

"Wait! Clark!" she went in after him. "I want you to know the truth. I couldn't live with myself if you didn't…So just…listen to me for a moment, okay?" she begged and he was silent. "When I came to, after the meteor shower, that wasn't me. Isobel somehow took me over and yes, she was the one that put you in a tank and the person that's done all those horrible things…it was her. And if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here today – as myself. You took away her powers I don't know how after she woke up. That's why she married Lex and put you away. She only let me come back so I could find you and you would give me her powers back willingly. After that she took me over again," she said not mentioning the fact it had been her utter despair that had allowed Isobel to resurface. "But now I'm me again and this time it's for good and…I know all this is hard to believe, but it's the truth."

"Did you really want to make love to me or was that just Isobel?" he asked looking her in the eye and she could see how hurt he was.

"I don't know," she lifted her shoulders. There was a moment of silence. "Clark, all this time hasn't changed the way I feel about you…"

"Well, it might've changed the way I feel about you," he said after a moment of consideration. "Maybe I could get over the fact you slept with all the men in Metropolis and even the contaminated pharmaceuticals, but your marriage to Lex…that I'll never be able to forgive. Not you. Not him."

"I want to make a fresh start. Here, in Smallville, far away from Metropolis. I just…want to start over. Go back to where I left off," she explained. "But I can't do it alone, Clark. I need you to stand by me."

"I'm sorry, but it's too late now," he said. "You know I've thought about this since I got home. That you would leave Metropolis and come back here and ask me to forgive you and I would say yes every time, but then the next moment all these things just came back to me…things I could just not get over," he explained, referring to the pictures he had seen in newspapers of her and other men or Lex Luthor. He recalled one particularly disturbing picture taken on a beach on some exotic island with Lex's hand down her bikini and the look of absolute delight on her face.

"But Clark…you're all I have left good in my life. Everything else has been tainted. Turned ugly," she couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say before he walked away.

Lana fell to her knees sobbing and although Clark felt the need to comfort her for a moment, he suppressed it, knowing it would not do her any good. How long she stayed there, crying, she didn't know. She just seemed to notice at one point that she still had her wedding ring on. She took it off furiously and wanted to throw it away, but then, inspecting it closer, she finally managed to make out the inscription on it. _You are my world. LL_.

As soon as he had managed to get out of the barn, Clark had run away at superspeed. He couldn't stand to hear her cry, but he knew there was nothing he could do to help her. He went to the windmill which he realized – since it held many memories of his time spent with Lana – had been a bad idea. He sat down on the grass with his head leaned on his arms. He felt empty. Like there was nothing left inside him. He knew it was impossible to return to the world after two years of absence and expect everything to be the same. But too many things had changed too fast.

"Hey, I heard you got back," someone said from behind him and he turned around to find Lois standing a few feet away from him.

"Lois!" he said standing up and nearing her, drew her into a hug.

"Wow, slow down, tiger," she said chuckling, but returned the hug nonetheless.

"Sorry, I just…I guess I just wanted to see a friendly face," he said with a half-smile.

"So…what was the mysterious disappearance about this time?" she asked curiously.

"Just…a little exploration before college," he explained.

"Yeah, that's what your parents told me too," she said chuckling.

"Boy, it's really good to see not everyone's changed," he admitted.

"Who said I didn't?" she asked raising her eyebrows as a little boy ran up to her and she took him up in her arms.

"Is he your…," he barely managed to form the words.

"Yeah, just like me to get knocked up, huh?" she asked rolling her eyes. "My dad literarily blew a fuse. Wanted to kill the guy who did this to me. But if you ask me, I didn't do so badly," she said smiling at the boy.

"He's beautiful," Clark said with a smile. "What's his name?"

"Alexander. After his father," she told him as the boy looked up at him with big blue eyes.

_End Part 15_


	17. Part 16: New Equations

_**Part 16**_

**_New equations _**

_She entered the bedroom chuckling as he closed the doors behind them. They were all covered in glitter and the sounds of the reception could still be heard from downstairs. She threw off the uncomfortable high heeled sandals she had on and leaned down on the bed still laughing. He looked at her with a smile._

"_I can't believe we actually pulled it off!" she said chuckling. _

"_There wasn't a doubt in my mind that we could, Mrs. Luthor," he said as he walked over to the champagne bottle and the two glasses that had been brought there earlier by the staff. As he busied himself with pouring the champagne in the glasses, he told her: "Out of the three weddings I've had so far, I have to admit this is already turning into my favorite." He rose the two glasses gently off the table and turned toward her. He almost dropped them the next second._

"_What's wrong? Don't you like what you see?" she asked with a teasing smile as she stood in nothing but her lingerie in front of him. She had easily disregarded her wedding dress and left it lying on the floor carelessly. _

"_There's nothing I'd like to see more," he said catching his breath. _

"_Good," she said satisfied with his answer and walking over to him gently took the glasses from his hands and put them aside. "Because…," she kissed him lightly on the lips. "Since you insisted we postpone this till the wedding night, I'm more than a little anxious to start," she deepened the kiss and then pulling away, started unbuttoning his shirt. When she was done, she removed his tie with one languorous move and walked slowly back to the bed as she said: "And please, do aim to impress."_

"_I always do," he assured her with a smile, following her to the bed. _

"_Any particular position you want me in?" she asked striking a pose. _

"_Shh," he put his finger on her lips and said: "Can't you pretend for one night that you really are her?" _

"_Fine," she said with a smirk and for a moment that whole playful façade she had put on fell. "But just because on some level, I pity you."_

_He said nothing, only kissed her again. The rest of the night, she acted like Lana Lang. As shy and curious as a virgin, as naïve and innocent and for that night alone, he really did feel as if it was Lana and not **her** he was holding. And maybe that night was worth all the other nights that followed. He told her he loved her a million times over and she said it back and the world seemed perfect. In the barely illuminated bedroom, between the slippery silky sheets with the noise of the wedding reception reaching out to them through the floor and their entwined bodies moving sensuously, everything was perfect._

Lana startled awake to find Lex sitting next to her bed in a chair with the collar of his shirt unbuttoned and his tie unknotted. He seemed exhausted as he looked up at her and said:

"Hey."

"Lex, what are you doing here?" she asked wrapping the covers closer to her body as if she was naked beneath them. Her dream was still vivid in her mind and, combined with the memory of the last time she had seen Lex in Metropolis, it made her feel uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry if I startled you," he said first of all. "I just…really needed to get away."

"From Metropolis?" she asked half-standing up. "Did something happen?"

"No, no, everything's fine," he assured her. He didn't want to burden her any further with the consequences of Isobel's actions. Metropolis had by now fallen into chaos and it would take a few days before things started cooling down.

"Then what's wrong?" she asked not really believing him.

"I'm sorry if I came into your room uninvited. When I came to check in the receptionist told me you were here. I wanted to see you… they gave me a key…," he explained.

"You shouldn't have taken it," she said although it hadn't really disturbed her as it had in the past when she had found him in her apartment uninvited. "Why aren't you staying at the castle?"

"Oh, you haven't heard yet? The castle doesn't belong to me anymore. Hasn't been mine for over a year now," he said.

"Well, the people here aren't exactly friendly to me," she said with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry," he felt the need to say.

"Did she…did Isobel do something to them?" she asked hesitantly.

"She said some rather unflattering things about Smallville in a few interviews. Hellhole and pigs stall were mentioned on several occasions," he told her.

"Oh, god," she covered her face with her hands.

"She also requested I shut down the Luthorcorp factory," he added.

"But you didn't…," she assumed.

"Actually, I did. She had a way of persuading me to do what she wanted," he admitted. "Needless to say the quarter of the population of Smallville that remained without jobs was not pleased."

"No wonder they hate me. I'd hate me too," she said frustrated. "Then again I already hate myself enough." There was a moment of silence before he asked:

"How are you enjoying your visit so far?"

"Besides the fact I'm choking on my food because of all the hateful glares I'm getting and the constant reminder of the fact the last two years of my life have been filled with nothing but evil?" she asked raising her eyebrows. "The town looks nice though. The reconstruction's done wonders with it."

"I like to think so too," he said. He had secretly funded half the reconstruction. Isobel had eventually found out about it and had been very pissed off because of it, but she couldn't take away the satisfaction of helping Smallville out in its time of need.

"You look tired," she noted.

"I've had a long night," he said with a tired smile.

"Come sleep then," she said pulling away the covers. He looked at her confused. "You can take the bed. I have…I have some things I need to do anyway," she explained quickly.

"Of course," he said and she felt like there was disappointment in his voice. She stood up from the bed and gestured for him to get in. He was putting on a brave face although he felt like he would collapse at any moment from the exhaustion. He didn't want her to see he could be that badly affected by something like sleep depravation and general stress. "Maybe when you get back we can have breakfast and choke on it together," he said with a half-smile as she headed for the bathroom. Once she was inside, he took off his shoes, crawled over to the bed and lied down in it. He fell asleep almost instantly. Maybe it was from the tiredness, but maybe it was because he was surrounded by her scent.

"Did you say…," she started saying as she came back in from the bathroom. She thought she had heard him speaking. She sighed when she saw he was already asleep and nearing the bed, carefully pulled the covers over him.

At the Kent farm, Clark was having breakfast with his parents. He had made it home late the previous night, needlessly worrying Mr. and Mrs. Kent. He had been afraid to return too early and still find Lana crying in the barn so he had spent the better part of the day before walking aimlessly around the region, trying to get accustomed to it again. All that had done for him had been to provoke nostalgia. Suddenly recalling his encounter with Lois at the windmill, he said:

"Did you know Lois has a son?"

"Yeah, she moved out here right after he was born," Jonathon nodded. "Cute little tike."

"Any idea who the father is?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Not a clue," Martha shrugged. "People have been speculating, but the truth is…"

"The poor bastard would've been dead by now if his name had gotten out. General Lane was more than a little upset when he heard of the pregnancy," his father explained. "Or well, heard his daughter had a son, because he only found out afterwards."

"So Lois never mentioned it?" he asked finding that curious. Somehow big mouthed Lois keeping a secret didn't seem like her at all. Martha shook her head. They continued eating in silence for a while before his mother said:

"You know, she was the only person Lana was ever nice to after she married Lex."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked with a frown.

"Well, she asked Lex to give her the castle. She's the one that lives there now," Martha told him.

"She didn't have anywhere to go. The general threw her out and refused to talk to her again. We were ready to take her in ourselves…," Jonathon said as he finished eating and leaned in his chair.

"But by the time she got here, the castle was already hers," she finished his sentence.

"I'll never forget the day she got here, all bruised and stitched up, holding her baby with one arm and carrying two bags over her shoulder," Jonathon recalled.

"Someone hurt her?" Clark asked outraged. "Who?" he stood up as if he was ready to go out and find whoever had dared harm her and make him pay for it. The problem was he was over a year too late.

"Calm down, son," Jonathon told him gesturing for him to sit back down.

"She never talks about it," Martha told him. "But it was most likely her father…I don't know who else would've had a reason to…Although the general never seemed to be the violent type. Sure, he was tough, but I don't see him capable of hurting his daughters."

Clark sat back down and started playing with his food.

"Why would Lana help her?" he asked after a while.

"She probably took pity on her," Martha suggested. "Lois is a very strong willed young woman and seeing her broken like that…it's enough to impress even the coldest of hearts."

Clark didn't say anything, but knew deep inside that there was no chance Lana – Isobel – had helped Lois without an ulterior motive.

Across Smallville, Lana was just walking out of the cemetery where she had gone to visit her parents' grave when she stumbled across a little boy, looking very lost and on the brink of tears. She smiled at him without a second thought and crouched down in front of him.

"Hey, there," she told him. "Are you lost?"

"Mama!" the boy said stepping away from her looking quite frightened. She took a step toward him, but he started running as soon as she did.

"Wait!" she yelled after him. "I didn't mean to scare you!"

Still very young and unsure on his legs, the boy fell to the ground, bruising his fragile knees. Lana ran up to him and looked at him distressed as he started crying loudly.

"Don't cry, I'll make it all better," she said in a hurry helping him to his feet and then started looking around for a pharmacy where she could purchase some band aid.

"Get away from him!" a voice suddenly said from behind her and the sound of shopping bags falling to the ground was preceded by the appearance of Lois Lane, moving past her and collecting the little boy off the ground and hugging him to her chest protectively. "What's wrong with you?" she looked accusingly over at Lana who didn't know what to say.

For some reason the image of Lois with a child in her arms didn't seem odd which probably meant she had known about it from before. She also got a bad feeling in her stomach. Like there was a little bit more to it than met the eye and she knew every sordid detail that – for some reason – she didn't appear to be willing to remember.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Lois asked frowning. "I thought we had a deal. I stay here, you stay there, no one gets hurt again."

"What are you talking about?" Lana asked confused.

"Miss Lane, should I bring the car around?" a man in a dark suit came to ask and Lois nodded. Lana recognized him as being one of the bodyguards Lex used to have at the castle.

"You're the one living at the castle now?" she asked incredulously.

"You gave it to me, remember?" she reminded her. "Did a brick fall on your head or have you really lost all your marbles like everyone's been saying in the papers?"

"Didn't Chloe tell you?" she asked still trying to figure out why exactly Isobel would have given Lois Lane of all people ownership of Lex's castle.

"She and I don't speak too often. She's a busy girl, we don't always have time to chat. Besides the fact she doesn't approve of the way I handled the 'accident' didn't really do much good for our relationship either," she pointed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a car waiting for me," she turned on her heels and as she watched her walk away, something suddenly dawned on Lana:

"He's Lex's son, isn't he?" Lois didn't bother to answer.

By the time Lana made it back to the inn, Lex was already having lunch. He had waited around for her for a while, but then, remembering he hadn't eaten anything close to actual food in days, he had decided to eat then and maybe later keep her company when she would be eating.

"Well, I had a very strange encounter," she said as she sat down at the table on the chair opposite him.

"Really?" he asked arching his eyebrows.

"Yes, with Lois. You remember her, don't you? Chloe's cousin," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's been only two years, Lana. I'm not that forgetful," he said with a half-smile. "How is Lois?"

"Apparently she's doing fine," she said. "It seems I gave her your castle sometime during the last two years."

"Ah, yes," he said smiling. "It was a surprising show of generosity on Isobel's part. I didn't really believe she had a heart up until that day."

"Don't give me that smirk. I know what that means," she said on a warning tone.

"What does it mean?" he asked amused leaning back in his chair.

"That you're twisting words around. That what you're saying is true, but it's taken out of context so it appears harmless when it actually isn't," she said slightly annoyed.

"By all means, tell me what context I'm leaving out then," he said still smiling.

"Her son…is he yours?" she asked straight out.

"Now what on earth put that idea into your mind?" he asked laughing.

"So he's not yours?" she asked relieved.

"You should order something. I feel bad that I'm the only one eating," he said and gestured for a waiter to approach. Lana knew his words meant the conversation was over, but she wondered whether he didn't feel the need to repeat himself or he didn't want to deny it directly in case she got some of Isobel's memories back. She decided not to push the discussion further and instead ordered something to eat. When the waiter was gone, Lex smiled: "You know, you were right, I can barely get a bite down in this place. It's like every person is contemplating choking me to death."

At the formerly Luthor, presently Lane mansion, Lois had just arrived home with her son. Lunch was waiting for her and she thanked god every day for the mansion's staff that had been paid to stay by the Luthors even after they no longer owned the mansion.

"Miss Lane, there's someone here to see you," one of the maids told her.

"Who?" she asked frowning. She wasn't expecting anyone and unless it was her troublemaking sister, Lucy, she had no idea who would visit her uninvited at noon.

"He says his name is Gerard Bouvier," the maid said.

"Gerard who?" she asked confused.

"Gerard Bouvier, Miss Lane," the man himself appeared behind the maid holding his hat in his hands. "Mrs. Luthor sent me."

_End Part 16_


	18. Part 17: The Conception of AlexanderLane

_Author's note: I think it's only fair to warn you I'm close to finishing the story. It'll have about another 2-3 parts and an epilogue._

_**Part 17**_

_**The conception of Alexander Lane**_

It was close to 8 PM and Chloe Sullivan was sitting at her desk feeling tired and frustrated. Her desk was full of half eaten chocolate bars and a still unopened bottle of coke. That was all she had eaten in two days since the chaos had started. Somewhere in the corner, Mavis from publicity was hugging herself and crying and Chloe wondered when the hell she would finally run out of tears. Their economical analyst was rocking himself back and forth perched up on his desk. Two of their reporters were sleeping on the floor somewhere and Perry's secretary was doing her nails for the millionth time to keep herself calm. From the bathroom screaming and pounding could be heard. She sighed.

Her phone suddenly started ringing and she startled. She picked it up and after taking a moment to remember what she was supposed to say, answered it:

"Daily Planet, Chloe Sullivan speaking."

"Hey, Chloe, it's Lex. I wanted to see how you were doing," he said and she sighed relieved it wasn't another lunatic with a death threat that considered her the reason the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories had been destroyed.

"Other than losing my mind, I'm doing fine," she replied chuckling nervously.

"I told you it was going to get bad. You should've left," he told her.

"Are you kidding? I can practically feel the Pulitzer in my hands!" she said with a smile. "We'll have exclusive on this story."

"Exclusive?" he asked unsure. "How about all the other fine journalists in Metropolis?"

"They were the first casualties. The media's blamed for everything that goes wrong," she reminded him. "Poor bastards didn't see it coming. Plus, it didn't help that half the Enquirer was doped up on LP migraine meds. You haven't seen scary until you've seen Peggy Shaw with an axe in her hands trying to chop your head off."

"Sounds brutal," he said grimacing.

"I know, I just wish someone would've thought about chopping her head off," she said sighing. "But enough about Metropolis night life. How are things with Lana? Cause I assume that's why you headed back to Smallville."

"How do you know I'm back in Smallville?" he asked and she could feel him smirking all the way from the Smallville Inn.

"Please, Lex, I've been documenting your life for over two years now, I think it's safe to say I know a thing or two about you," she pointed out. She paused for a moment before adding: "So…"

"So, nothing. I'm here. She's here. We're getting separate rooms…," he said and she interrupted him:

"Lex, I just spent two hours barricading the doors to the men's bathroom so our psycho colleagues – people I see everyday, eat and joke with everyday - won't kill us with random objects like staplers and chairs. Now I need to hear something wildly romantic to even feel mildly better about life," she demanded.

"Okay…," he gave in, but only continued after a long pause: "This one time, we were on the jet and she thought we were going to the opera in Milan, but I took her to this little private island off the coast of Australia. Its owner was a business associate of mine and the moment I saw it I knew I wanted to take her there. We were alone on the island for over a week. I even sent the bodyguards and chefs to Sydney. I think those were the best seven days of my life," there was a long silence after those words. "But now it's over…"

"Lex…look…," she rubbed her face tiredly. "You hurt her…no, worse, you destroyed her, you let her be destroyed," she stopped for a second before going on: "But…deep inside her, somewhere, I know she has certain feelings for you. I'm not saying I agree with them or that they weren't just something Isobel shoved into her subconscious, but they're there. But Lex, you have to think seriously about this. What are you going to do if you convince her to come back to you? Try to be a better person? Cause that's something I'm not buying again."

"I love her," he only said.

"But that still doesn't answer my question, does it?" she pointed out. She sighed again: "Why did you really want to talk to me? Because somehow I doubt this is just about my health."

"Lois," he said, not bothering to deny her allegations.

"A-ha, there's the problem," she said and couldn't feel but disappointed that he had indeed only called to find out something from her. For a second she had felt like she was back in highschool when being on a first name basis with Lex Luthor hadn't been such a miracle. "I'm sorry, but I probably can't help you since I haven't talked to Lois in quite a while."

"No, it's not about that," he assured her. "I just want to know what you told Lana about her."

"Lana?" she asked and then it suddenly hit her: Lana must have seen Lois and her son in Smallville. Biting her lips she said: "Everything. I told her everything," she said and thought to herself that this way maybe Lana could have a shot at an honest relationship if she couldn't help her feelings toward Lex.

"Thank you for your honesty," he said. "Take care of yourself. Try not to get in the way of any ax totting lunatics."

"Don't worry, I won't," she assured him. "Bye."

"Goodbye," and with that he hung up.

Chloe stared blankly at the floor and wondered if she had done the right thing, but right then the doors of the bathroom could be heard breaking and she didn't have more time to think about it, but focused on finding a solution to keeping her deranged colleagues under lock and key.

_**Nearly two years ago**_

_Metropolis_

"Yes, well, about time you found out I suppose," Isobel said as she stared unimpressed at the severed head displayed on the table in front of her. Sergio Precarrio looked at her with dead eyes as if expecting some sort of reaction from her.

"That's all you have to say for yourself?" Lex asked angrily as he pulled her chair roughly toward him.

"What would you like me to say?" she asked with a smile. "I'm sorry?" she was mocking him. "Because I'm not."

"Don't you feel anything! At all?" he asked blocking her from standing up by putting his hands on the chair's wooden arms.

"Oh, please, are we playing the feeling game again?" she rolled her eyes. She seemed more amused than worried about his anger. "Because quite frankly it's starting to bore the hell out of me."

"Our marriage…," he started saying, but she interrupted him:

"Was a strategic move on my part. One I'm quite content with despite the fact I have to be in your presence most of my day," she said calmly.

"You took a vow!" he reminded her furiously as his hands encircled her neck. "Till death do us apart! Remember? Don't you remember?" he yelled as he tightened his grip around her fragile neck. She didn't react. She just stared at him sternly and after a few moments said:

"If you continue to do that, you'll break my neck."

He let go and then, walking away from her, crashed into a chair like a broken puppet. Isobel was silent, focusing on the closed windows for some unknown reason. Then suddenly, she stood up and walked over to a wall length mirror and inspected her neck.

"This is going to leave a bruise," she said unsatisfied. "Now I can't wear my Prada dress to the benefit tonight. Great work, Lex. You'll have to accompany yourself to the party because I'm not going looking like some rag doll you like to smack around," she walked over to the table and picked up Sergio's head and headed toward the doors. "Have a good day." One of the maids came in just as she was going out and she threw her the head: "Here, throw this out with the day's trash," and with that she was gone.

Lex sighed and ran his hand over his scalp as the maid dropped Sergio's head and started screaming uncontrollably.

_Later that night_

He was sitting at the bar alone with his bowtie hanging loose around his neck and the top buttons of his shirt opened. He had gone to the benefit by himself, but after no more than an hour he couldn't stand it anymore. The looks, the whispers, the words spoken behind his back, the questions regarding Lana's whereabouts…he knew that if he had stayed he would've gotten drunk and made a fool of himself at his own firm's benefit. Better to do it there, at a high class bar that prided itself in discretion.

"Lex Luthor, alone and drunk on the night of one of Luthorcorp's most important parties of the year for the rich and generous," a voice said from behind him and he turned to find Lois Lane in an evening dress standing a foot away from him. "That's likely to make headlines."

"I think they'll be otherwise occupied," he said and thought the media was probably going to be speculating the reasons for Lana's absence from his side for the very first time since they had gotten married in the next day's papers.

"Married life's a bitch, isn't it?" she asked with a smirk as she took the empty seat at the bar next to him.

"What would you know about that?" he asked absently.

"Well, I was at the benefit earlier, you were downing gallons of scotch like there's no tomorrow," she said as the bartender poured her a drink. "Your wife wasn't there. Let's just say it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."

"How'd you get at the benefit? How'd you get in _here_?" he asked irritated.

"Oh, I have my ways," she said mysteriously and after a beat added: "And a cousin who's a reporter ergo a member of the press and that gets her in for free pretty much everywhere."

"But you're not her," he pointed out.

"For one night only, I am," she said waving her press pass in front of him. "Chloe's feeling a little under the weather so she sent me to fill in for her and I – as a person who could never say no to free drinks I can't otherwise afford – said yes."

"Charming," he grimaced and finished another glass of scotch.

"And yes, that does mean I can write a story about the billionaire ditching his own party to get drunk away from the prying eyes of the public," she said smiling and downed her drink in one motion.

"I can't stop you," he shrugged.

"Oh, that doesn't sound like the Lex Luthor we love to hate. Where are the death threats? The butch bodyguards?" she asked amused, but he remained silent. "Oh, you're no fun. Bartender, fire up another round."

_The following morning_

When he woke up, his head felt like it weighed a tone and the sounds of the morning traffic reached the room through the window left wide open. He blinked several times before he got accustomed to the light. He half stood up and only then felt the warmth of another body next to his. Had he gone home and made up with Lana? He scanned the room quickly and realized that wasn't his bedroom. In fact, it looked like a hotel room. That could only mean that he had…He reached down toward the covers that were completely covering the other body and hesitantly pulled them down.

"Lois?" he asked incredulously staring at the naked girl sleeping beside him. He vaguely remembered meeting her at a bar the previous night, but from there on everything was a blank.

"Who turned on the lights?" she asked grumpily. "Chloe, I told you a million times, if you…," her eyes opened and coming face to face with Lex, she jumped up, pulled the covers up to her chin and started saying: "Damn it, damn it, damn it. We didn't just do what I think we did…," she said with a glimmer of hope, but seeing their disregarded clothes scattered all over the floor she realized they probably had. "Damn it!"

"Calm down, I'm sure this is just…some sort of misunderstanding," he said, sounding skeptical of his own words.

"Yeah, a big misunderstanding!" she let out rolling her eyes and started looking around for her underwear.

"Security tapes," he suddenly realized what would happen if they ever reached the media. He got dressed quickly and ran out of the room after cautioning Lois to stay there.

By the time Lex got back, Lois was still looking for her underwear. He had managed to bribe the security people into letting him have the tapes and had made another disturbing discovery.

"I think these are yours," he said clearing his throat and handing Lois a pair of women's underwear he had found in his pocket.

"Oh, ew," she let out embarrassed and took them from him. He put on the tape so they could both see what had happened since they had entered the hotel the previous night. They had made out from the lobby to the receptionist's desk to the elevator. Except, in the elevator they hadn't just kissed and fondled. "We had sex in the elevator with the cameras watching?" she asked incredulously. "Okay, I've never been that drunk in my life. What do you people put in drinks at parties?" she asked covering her face. "There's just one solution to this. We just have to pretend it never happened."

"Deal," Lex said as he took the tape out and started destroying it.

_Later that day_

Isobel stormed into his office and shut the door angrily after shoving his secretary out brutally.

"Lois Lane?" she asked throwing a stack of pictures of him and Lois leaving the bar together and kissing in some dark alley. "I knew you'd try to get back at me somehow, but Lois Lane? You're lucky I'm not selling these to the tabloids so you can see just how big a mockery you're making of yourself!"

"How did you get these?" he asked flipping through the pictures.

"I had you followed or do you really think you can get away with something that easily?" she asked with a disgusted smile.

"Who said I was trying to get away with anything? You didn't exactly bother to hide your affair with Sergio either, did you?" he pointed out annoyed. "It was pure dumb luck that the media didn't find out. And that's mostly because I treated him as a friend and welcomed him into my house without suspecting I'd also be sharing my wife with him!"

"Oh, please, stop being so dramatic," she scoffed. "And next time try not picking the first piece of trash you find in the gutter," she said and smirking one last time, walked out of his office.

_Two weeks later _

"Miss Lane, Miss Lane!" the secretary followed Lois into Lex's office, trying to stop her from disturbing her boss. Lex looked up at them and after a beat said:

"It's all right, Janice," and the secretary, after giving Lois one last frustrated glance, left the office. Once they were alone, he looked at her and sighed: "I thought we agreed that it would be best for the both of us if we didn't see each other for a while. You burst into my office like that, people might start asking questions."

"Well, they're gonna be asking them soon enough anyway so why not start early?" she said nervously.

"What are you talking about?" he asked frowning.

"I'm pregnant," she said with a forced smile.

_End Part 17 _


	19. Part 18: The Birth of Alexander Lane

_Author's note: Next update, only after New Year's._

_**Part 18**_

_**The Birth of Alexander Lane**_

"Clark, you made it!" Lois said as she greeted him with a smile from the living room. She was attempting to feed her son some mashed apples and biscuits, but Alexander was in the mood for games so he kept refusing the food. She stood up exasperated and taking Clark by surprise, drew him into a hug. "Oh, don't act so shocked, Smallville. I haven't seen you in ages and despite first appearances, I did get attached to you. Like you would to…. say, a dog. Or given my allergies, how about a cat?"

"Very funny," he said smiling as she went back to the table and continued to try and convince Alexander to eat.

"Alexander's being very stubborn at this hour," she said frustrated. "I give up."

"Mind if I try?" he offered nearing the table as the boy watched him with his big blue eyes.

"Knock yourself out, but I don't think…," she started saying but as soon as Clark neared the spoon to his mouth, the boy instantly ate its content. "Oh, the little traitor!"

"He's just trying to impress me," he assured her with a smile as he crouched down in front of the boy. "What's your name, little fella?"

"Alex," he said shyly hiding his face.

"Well, nice to meet you, Alex. I'm Clark," he said and playfully shook his tinny hand as Lois looked on amused. The scene was suddenly interrupted by a man clearing his throat. Clark turned around to see who it was. To him, the man was a total stranger.

"Clark, I'd like you to meet Gerard Bouvier. He's one of the few friends I still have since the 'incident'," she said making quotation marks in the air to emphasize the word incident. "He's staying over for a few days."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Bouvier," Clark said standing up and extending his hand toward the new arrival.

"Likewise. I've heard a lot about you, Clark. Lois, although she hides it, thinks the world of you," he said and looking down at his still extended hand added: "Do you mind if I not? I have a germ problem."

"Gerard's one of those weird people that constantly clean the cleanest things," Lois explained.

"Oh, sorry," Clark retrieved his hand.

"It's all right, it's a sickness," Gerard lied. He was just trying to hide the tattoos on his wrist. Tattoos Clark was very likely to recognize from the cave.

"I'll go talk to the maid about bringing lunch in," Lois said walking toward the living room's entrance. "You boys play nice while I'm away," she added and walked out of the room. "Especially you," she said giving her son a dirty look to which the boy replied with a giggle.

"How do you know Lois?" Clark couldn't help but ask once the girl was gone.

"Her father and I were acquainted at one time," he explained. "I'm afraid he doesn't look fondly upon me helping his daughter out after he threw her out though."

"The way I heard it Lana La...Luthor was the one who helped her out," he said, the name Lana Luthor still making him choke somehow.

"And who do you think convinced her?" Gerard asked with a smirk.

"So you know Lana…," he assumed.

"We share some common cultural interests," he only replied.

Meanwhile as Lois was heading back into the living room, one of the maids stopped her.

"Ms.Lane, Mr. Luthor's at the door," she told her in a whisper.

"Lex?" she asked raising her eyebrows surprised. "Tell him I'm not home."

"But Ms. Lane...," the maid hesitated. "He said he's here to see his son."

"You tell Mr. Luthor that no son of his lives here," she told her coolly and then putting on her biggest smile walked back into the living room.

_**Over a year ago**_

_Metropolis_

Lex was sitting in his office, staring at his phone. He had tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him, but every time he did, his mind kept wandering back to the phone. It had been exactly 5 hours 34 minutes and 10 seconds since he had received the call. He had been restless ever since. The people at the clinic never contacted him directly. They had been told that that number was for cases of extreme emergency only. Were there complications? Was the baby arriving early? Would that affect his son's health? Was something bad happening to Lois?

He had managed to keep Lois away from the prying eyes of the public and especially those of his ever vigilant wife up until then. He had barely seen her himself although he had sent her about a million gifts both for her and the baby. He had arranged for her to get a supposed trial scholarship at a European university exclusively available for the children of war veterans. And the general had seen his share of wars. That had been the only excuse Lex had been able to find to make anyone believe Lois would deserve a scholarship. So while people – general Lane included – believed she was in Europe having the time of her life, he had actually sent her to a private clinic in Central City where an army of doctors had looked after her day and night. Fortunately, since the same clinic was one of the Luthors' charities of choice, his numerous gifts weren't really questioned.

While she could not contact him through telephone, mail or her personal e-mail address, she had taken the liberty of making up a phony e-mail address each time she wanted to contact him. The last e-mail she had sent him had said: "To whom it may concern, L, previously a gorgeous young woman with a life full of possibilities in front of her has turned into a deranged giant cow confined to her bed. Now all she wants is a drink, but she is stopped every time from getting one by the annoying medical staff that – she suspects - watch her every second of her life. PS Have I told you how much I HATE you lately?"

The phone suddenly rang and he startled before picking it up quickly.

"Yes?" he asked urgently.

"This is doctor Callaway from the Rosemond Clinic in Central City. Congratulations, Mr. Luthor, you're a father," he said and Lex couldn't help but smile.

Unfortunately for him however, he wasn't the only one hearing the doctor's words. Halfway across Metropolis in the brand spanking new offices of Lang Pharmaceuticals, Lana Luthor listened incredulously. She unwound the tape and pressed the play button.

"…you're a father…," the doctor's voice was heard saying clearly.

"That lying bastard," she said scoffing and stood up from her chair abruptly.

_Later_

_Central City_

"She's resting now," the nurse told him in a whisper as she cracked the door to Lois' private room so he could see her.

"Wait," Lois muttered, sounding very tired and drowsy. Lex exchanged a glance with the nurse who nodded shortly in reply and left, letting him enter Lois' room.

"Hey," he said softly nearing the bed.

"Hey right back," she said with a slow smile, barely managing to hold her eyes open. "I just wanted to tell you not to freak out when you see the name…I was out of ideas and the doctors had me in a corner so I told them the first thing that came to my mind. I mean what else could I call him? I would've named him after my father, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna freak over the illegitimate son when he finds out…and your father…," she chuckled. "Your father's name was bound to give me nightmares."

"You and me both," he replied with a smile. "Get some rest," he told her gently and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"You should see him…cutest little bug...," she muttered with a sleepy smile and closed her eyes.

He made his way out of the room quietly. The nurse was waiting for him outside.

"Now, would you like to see your son?" she asked him with a broad smile.

"Yes," he let out in one breath, the word son sounding so odd in his mind. The fact he hadn't been by Lois' side every waking hour of her pregnancy had made the entire event distant and something he had not yet gotten accustomed to. Even if every time he had a chance he would sneak a peak at the sonogram pictures she had made sure he would receive on a regular basis, he still felt as if he had been held at a distance. A stray thought about his own father and the situations he had put him through to make him strong crossed his mind. The nurse guided him down a long corridor and toward a maternity window.

He looked at it hesitantly for a moment, then, not rushing, neared it and started searching the rows of newborn babies for a sign…

"Alexander Lane," he muttered when he saw the name written down on the bracelet on a little boy's tiny wrist. His features softened considerably as he looked at that small baby. He couldn't believe that it was his. His own flesh and blood. His son. He touched the glass and felt a sensation of longing like he had never had before. He wanted to hold him, take him away, protect him, make sure nothing ever dared harm him. He wanted the whole world to know he had a son. He smiled.

In his rush to reach the hospital, he hadn't noticed he had been followed. After the intriguing discovery that her husband had been hiding a woman pregnant with his baby somewhere in Central City, Lana had trailed him all the way to the Rosemond Clinic. She had stood at a safe distance from Lex, but close enough to see which room he had visited. She then waited until he was gone to make her way into the same room. She was shocked by who she found there.

"Lois fucking Lane," she let out incredulously. "Of all the rotten people," she said angrily and threw a fresh vase of flowers into the wall above the bed, startling Lois awake.

"Lana! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, her tired mind registering the events as something surreal.

"What I'm doing?" she laughed bitterly. "You two-bit slut, what am I doing? How about you? Good, fine, having a baby?"

"Who let you in here?" she asked and reached for the alarm button, but Lana pulled the small remote away, throwing it across the room.

"You know, usually I don't like to get my hands dirty, but with you, it's going to be an absolute pleasure," she said with a grimace and grabbing Lois by the hair threw her out of the bed roughly. She tried to scream, to alert someone, but her voice was too weak and her throat too sore. She had screamed too much in the last few hours.

"Lana, stop it, I know you're angry, you have every right to be, but this isn't the way to solve things," she muttered weakly as she tried to gather herself off the floor, but to Lana her words didn't mean a thing. Lois didn't even really exist, it was just her and the target of her all consuming anger as her mind raced to find an explanation for her recent discovery:

"What the hell did he do to convince you to breed him a litter of illegitimated bastards?" she asked as she kicked her in the stomach two times hard and then buried heel in her palm. "You hated him! I know you did!" she leaned down and picking Lois up from the ground threw her into the table. "What did he promise you? Money? Is that it? You sold you womb for a little extra cash?" she banged her with her head against the wall. "Why even bother? White trash like you never really washes off the stench of the slums!" she said as a bleeding Lois reached out for the fallen alarm remote while she ranted. "I'm going to make him pay!" she let out frustrated as the door to the room suddenly opened and two strong looking medical assistants entered. They looked shocked at the scene before them and one told the other:

"Get the police, now." The other assistant nodded and left in a hurry as the first one neared Lana and said: "Ma'am, I need you to step out. NOW."

"Who do you think you are?" she said and raising Lois up by the hair said: "We're having a conversation here."

"Lois!" Lex appeared in the threshold and looked at Lana shocked.

"Surprised to see me here, Lex?" she asked with a malicious smile.

"Oh, god," he neared her and pulling Lois out of her grasp handed her over to the medical assistant, then pulled Lana out of the room roughly. "What are you doing here?" he asked her as he led her into an empty room where they could speak privately.

"I should ask you the same thing, daddy," she replied disgusted. "So you knocked up the army brat because…"

"Because you wouldn't give me the son I wanted," he cut her off abruptly.

"Oh, come on, Lex, we barely got married, I wasn't about to let you get me pregnant just yet," she pointed out.

"You promised me a son in exchange for Lang Pharmaceuticals. You let me believe that it was true!" he said raising his voice.

"You're a joke," she said grimacing. "Your killer instinct just seems to fade away when you're up against the most basic of lies. I let you go on and on thinking you'd be smart enough to realize my promise wouldn't add up to anything. But I did have to spell it out for you in the end, didn't I? When you got so hyped up you went out and bought a goddamn crib. The tabloids wouldn't stop raving about it for days and days…So I had to give them something else to write out."

"Your affair," he realized.

"Those little wheels of yours are finally starting to turn," she said rolling her eyes. "Well, we'll just have to take care of your mess," she said after a pause as a stunned Lex could not bring himself to speak.

"Take care?" he asked looking at her suspiciously. When she said 'take care', someone usually wound up dead. "You're not touching Lois again. Or my son."

"Well, if you think I'll live with this, you have another thing coming," she said turning on her heels.

"If she dies, it's going to be all over the media. Half the hospital probably knows what you did by now. They know he's my son," he pointed out.

"Dead people don't tell," she replied grimly.

"If you touch a strand of hair on her head again, I swear I'll…," he started threatening, but she only smirked:

"Kill me? You don't have the guts to kill the body of your small town princess. And even if you did, I'd still make sure that bitch and her kid are going to be meat for the grinder before you have the slightest chance to touch me," she laughed . "Divorce me then? I'll marry one of your friends that likes to keep me company when you're on business trips faster than you can say I do," she paused for a moment and then added: "Or I could make a fortune by selling all your dirty little secrets to the media. I could even write a book."

"You wouldn't dare," he said stone-faced.

"You wish," she said smiling coolly. They stared into each other's eyes intently for a long moment. Lex wanted to make a threat. To at least pretend he could bring himself to have her killed, but he knew it was useless. She knew that in his heart, he would never be capable of harming her. "I'll make you a deal. This one time. I'll let go of this if you give up all parental rights to Lois' bastard son and you never see her and him ever again. And I'm talking no mysterious presents, no birthday cards, no Christmas gifts, no weekend visits, no secret trust fund. That's the only way I will ever back out of this. The only way your son won't die smothered in his sleep. Well, are you in or are you out?" she stared at him and after a long moment of hesitation, he nodded. "Good. Quite frankly I'd rather see you suffer for the rest of your life than for a brief tragic moment in which you'd learn your son is dead."

With that said, she walked out of the room and just like that Lex Luthor lost the son he had barely gotten.

_Two weeks later _

"She's suing me!" Lana said throwing a piece of paper in front of him. "That cheap tramp thinks she can bully me into giving her a few dozen millions!"

"What are you talking about?" Lex asked taking the paper and looking it over, smirked. It was from Lois. She was suing Lana for physical assault. "Well, she has a very strong case. She has witnesses and the physical evidence to back her story up."

"Are you just going to stay there and stare at me?" she asked frowning.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"I want you to hire the best attorney in town and…," she started saying, but he interrupted her:

"I'm afraid he's taken," he said pointing toward the signature on the document that belonged to Metropolis' biggest shark.

"How could she ever afford him?" she asked confused.

"She's probably paying him with a percentage of the sum they'll get off you," he said shrugging. "I suggest you settle. We might just escape without a public scandal if you do."

Lana looked at him incredulously, but nothing in his features betrayed his involvement in the matter. It had been his last gift to Lois and his son before he had stepped out of their lives. A business card of the top lawyer in town.

_End Part 18_


	20. Part 19: All that ends well

_**Author's note:** Everyone, this is the last part, followed by a short epilogue. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's read this story and especially those that have reviewed it. You've really made writing this story worth my while. With that said, I'm looking forward to reading your last comments and thoughts on the story on the review column. Also, if you have any questions, just leave them there along with an e-mail address and I promise to answer them. _

_**Part 19**_

_**All that ends well**_

Two weeks had passed since what the worldwide media had referred to as 'the Metropolis incident'. The most plausible story was the one referring to the destruction of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories - undoubtedly through industrial terrorism – having caused fumes from the underground laboratories to flood the city and provoke hallucination and paranoia to a major part of the population. That's what the Enquirer believed and what its number one reporter Peggy Shaw was claiming in court where she was trialed for mass murdering twenty or so fellow journalists. Although violent outbursts had been unusually numerous at that time all across the United States, people weren't quick to tie the events to those in Metropolis.

Only one person had found out the complete truth and that person was Chloe Sullivan. She had contemplated revealing it to the world, but then assumed people would have a hard time believing a story about witch spirits, supernatural powers and mass addiction. So, since she had more material on the Metropolis incident than anyone on the planet – who was sane anyway – she had done the next best thing to telling the truth: she had told the story of surviving through the few days of chaos that had gripped Metropolis. It had made the first page of the Daily Planet. Now her phone was ringing off the hook with invitations to talk shows and interviews.

"_Well, I think I can safely say, I knew I was screwed the moment Eddie, our copy boy, started chewing through the stall's door. I knew I had to get out and fast. But here I was stuck between four walls. So what I did was…,"_ Chloe explained to the host of a popular TV show as Lana walked into the Talon. A small TV that hadn't been there when she had managed the place was perched up above the counter.

"Mrs. Luthor," a waitress saluted her coolly as she came to the bar to take her order.

"Uhm, just coffee for me, Melissa, thanks," she said with a smile. She had been trying to get under the waitress' skin for weeks now. But despite her many attempts at being nice, supportive, friendly, the girl had remained just as cold and professional toward her as humanly possible. She didn't understand why. She had no idea Melissa's father had been one of the many people that became unemployed after the Luthorcorp factory had been closed down. Or the fact Melissa's mother who had grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle had left them only two months afterwards and that Melissa now supported her depressed father and little brother by working two jobs, barely managing to go to school because of it.

For the last few weeks, while taking up a permanent residence at the Smallville Inn, Lana had devised a plan to make up for all the rotten things Isobel had done while possessing her body. She decided Smallville was at the top of her list. She started asking right and left about what people in her hometown lacked those days. Some of the replies she had gotten had been harsh.

"A job. Care to give it back to me, you witch?" was the answer of a burly 40-something year old.

"Why? So you'd know which weak spots you can aim at in your next interview?" an outraged woman asked her once.

Soon however she saw some things on her own, without anyone's help. Like the fact the highschool's football field had deteriorated greatly over the last two years. Or that the swimming pool had yet to be rebuilt after the meteor shower. The Beanery was going broke because it was knee deep in debts after its reconstruction. A farm out in the northern part of Smallville was barely standing. She decided that if she was to redeem her name she had to show people she meant well. She had discussed it with Lex.

"If that's what you want," he had shrugged without asking many questions. She had an air of hope about her. Like she was finally getting past what had happened. He really wanted her to become the old Lana again, although he knew that in becoming her, she would most likely learn to despise him and the life he offered her as well. He had long decided however that he no longer cared about his own outcome from that whole mess. All he wanted was to see her happy again. And if charity was the answer then she could have all his billions for it.

Lex had returned to Metropolis a few days after the end of the 'Metropolis incident', ready to give a statement in which he blamed the destruction of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories on industrial terrorism and declared that he would not rest until he found those responsible for it. How many people bought his much rehearsed speech he didn't care. The important thing was that it would never occur to them that he himself had been responsible for the bombings.

He had been nervous for a few days thinking about all the private information he had disclosed to Chloe during the crisis and wondered if it hadn't been a bad idea and whether he shouldn't make sure she never lived to print the story…Chloe however proved to be the cautious journalist this time around and simply played the war reporter telling incredible stories on TV.

Although Lex stayed in Metropolis all day running Luthorcorp, he always found his way back to Smallville in the afternoons or at night. The weekends he spent there altogether when he wasn't forced to travel overseas for business related meetings. He stayed in a room at the Smallville Inn across from Lana's. They usually had dinner together and they were always relaxing carefree affairs. They never discussed any of the taboo subjects: Isobel, Clark Kent, their own marriage or Isobel's actions while inside her body. They just talked about their day, their plans for the future – that however never went beyond the next week. It was like they were two old friends catching up. They never talked about doing things together although Lex would've wanted to take her on business trips with him to exotic locations around the world. He never brought it up at dinner although sometimes he spent all day contemplating just how he would invite her along. He could never bring himself to ruin the 'sanctity' – for that was what he felt it was – of their light conversations.

When he had been gone to Singapore for two days, Lana had felt his absence. She didn't enjoy having dinner alone and images of Lex in bed with beautiful Asian women flashing before her eyes made her stab her stake and frown. Why should she care though if he was with other women? It wasn't like their marriage was really going anywhere. Yet she had yet to bring up the word 'divorce'. Sure, she had thought about it several times, but each time something else occupied her mind. Like the bills for the restoration of the football field or the report on the Beanery's financial situation or Lois Lane and Clark Kent walking down the street with groceries in their arms, laughing. She had met Clark's gaze for a moment, while Lois had totally ignored her.

"Hey, Lana," Clark had saluted her awkwardly – like he had years ago when they had barely known each other – and then passed her by so fast she didn't even have time to return the salute. The way he had looked at her had suggested regret however. Could he have been ready to forgive her? To believe her? That thought had kept her spirits up all day. At dinner, she didn't mention anything to Lex about it.

Lois had noticed the gaze too and decided to put an end to Clark's resurfacing feelings for Lana for good by telling him the truth about how she had gotten the Luthor castle.

"Lois, is that really true?" he had asked her stupefied after she had told him the story while little Alex was playing in what had once been Lex Luthor's office.

"Would I lie to you?" she had replied softly and then added: "I can show you the settlement papers if you want. Or the pictures the doctors took of me as evidence…" She had walked over to the desk and pulled out a file she had prepared when she had decided to tell him the truth. Clark had needed to see the pictures for the reality of her story to sink in. He had flipped through them and then put them back down on the desk before taking a seat baffled. Lois had neared him and smiled sympathetically. "I know it's horrible, but I don't want to see you getting hurt. Not by that monster."

A week after the Metropolis incident, the press, now eager for a lighter subject, had turned its eyes back toward their number one tabloid seller: the Luthors. Armies of photographers and reporters had flooded Smallville and intruded upon Lana's blossoming charitable actions. Only two days later, all of her actions were so publicized that rumors started spreading across Smallville – started by the cynical Metropolis journalists and their indebt analysis of her work – that she was doing it all just to boost her public image a few notches. People started doubting the sincerity of her actions soon afterwards, but she didn't want to give up.

"Principal Carlton!" Lana ran up the familiar hallways of Smallville High to catch up with its newest principal. The man seemed determined not to stop or to simply ignore her, but she wasn't going to have it. "I wanted to discuss the new swimming pool with you. I thought maybe we could make it bigger than the old one. I found this great company in Metropolis that charges only…"

"Mrs. Luthor, I'm afraid I can no longer accept your generous donations," the man told her finally stopping when he realized he wouldn't get rid of her so easily.

"What? But last week you were so excited about the project!" she reminded him.

"I'm afraid the Board of Education has contacted me and requested that I no longer allow the affiliation of your name to this school," he explained.

"Why? I haven't done anything but help you," she pointed out.

"I know, Mrs. Luthor, but the press has been widely speculating on your reasons for it. Some have even suggested that you're trying to seduce some young student that attends the school or buy the favors of the school board for your own purposes," he explained. "I really am sorry, but I don't have a choice," and with that he started to walk away leaving behind a shocked Lana.

"But none of that's true! You know it better than anyone!" she yelled after him as the school bell rang and teenagers filled the corridors. They were all staring at her and whispering and some of the cockier jocks were even giving her suggestive looks. She left, feeling dirty and ashamed.

Outside the school, she saw a grinning photographer taking a picture of her and she suddenly felt so angry she wanted to punch him. She walked over to him and grabbed his camera.

"Just who the hell do you think you are? Making up stories and selling them as the truth!" she yelled at him as he pulled his camera out of her hands.

"Who do you think you are? Acting like you own the world?" the man replied disgusted and then took another picture of her. "You just best get used to it, princess, cause if you're rich and famous, people'll start poking through your garbage just to get some filth on you."

She looked at him frustrated and deciding she had probably already given him a story – Lana Luthor shows her claws! – she walked away.

At dinner, she barely touched her food. She was more playing with it than eating it. She was also unusually quiet. Lex had noticed it, but pretended not to and proceeded to tell her of his horrible business trip to Central City, leaving out the fact that while there he had also attended the funeral of Quentin Terrane whose body had been discovered a few days earlier in a sewer in Metropolis, said to have been another victim of paranoid Metropolis citizens. When he finished his account he was silent for a few moments.

"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked sighing after a while.

"How did you do it?" she suddenly asked and Lex started panicking inwardly. What had she found out about? There were so many dark shady things he had done, but then she went on and he was relieved: "When you were young in Metropolis and they were constantly chasing you…How did you deal with them?" she made a wide gesture that he instantly understood referred to the media that had been keeping a too close a watch on her. Lana, unlike Isobel, didn't care much for the media. Isobel had reveled in it. She used to call them mindless puppets there for her entertainment. She liked to manipulate them, to feed them stories, to make them get so close to the truth and then simply take it away. Of course, she had also been responsible for the death of a number of reporters. She had even attempted to kill Chloe Sullivan on a few occasions, but he had never allowed her plans to succeed.

"One step at a time," he answered her with a soft smile. There was another long moment of silence before he went on: "Hard, isn't it?"

"I believe that's the understatement of the century," she said chuckling nervously. "You know the Kansas State Board of Education ordered Carlton to no longer accept my help? Because I apparently have very unhealthy ulterior motives some of which include underage boys."

He choked on his food and then started laughing: "Promise me that if you're planning on leaving me for a 16 year old, you'll tell me before the story hits the tabloids."

"It's not funny," she said sighing. "I mean, I've been trying so hard…but no one seems to want to believe I can be better."

"Once people have preconceived ideas about someone, it's hard to make them change them," he pointed out. He was reminded of his own situation when he first arrived in Smallville as the exiled troublemaking son of a billionaire. "It takes…great effort and great people to stand by you. Even if…in the end…some find that they're just fighting a losing battle."

"Was that what you decided happened?" she asked looking up at him. "That since people were always going to believe you were the wolf in sheep's clothing, you'd become one and prove them right?"

He smiled. "No. I was always a wolf, I was just reckless enough to let people see it when I was young. I came to Smallville and met some extraordinary people that made me want to change, but deep down I was still the same old wolf, only in better sheep clothing. And for all it's worth it, when I had you – well, Isobel – I realized there was nothing else I wanted to pretend to be a saint for. I just wanted you to love me and I knew you couldn't love a man like me. That might disgust you now, but it's the truth and that much you'll always have from me."

"So what am I?" she asked after a beat. "A sheep in wolf's clothing?"

"To them you'll always be a wolf. They'll always expect you to turn against them again. That's the problem with wronging people so much. You can never really earn their trust back completely," he answered.

"All this is useless then…," she said leaning in her chair and closing her eyes for a moment.

"Not necessarily," he said. "You see, by dealing directly with them, it's like you're asking them to give you their trust right then, at that moment. You're making yourself known as responsible for their wellbeing and although they are grateful for your help they can't help but despise you for being so rich that you're able to help them by simply snapping your fingers. A more distant approach is more suitable. You find out their problems, you help them without them knowing how much time or energy you spend on resolving their issues and say nothing about it. Eventually they do realize it was you but they feel grateful without despising you because you're not damaging their self-esteem by gloating."

"I never gloated," she replied although his words made sense.

"I know you didn't," he smiled again. "But that's not how they see it. They see the rich, cocky, Mrs. Luthor waving money at them they couldn't make in a lifetime as though it was something she found under the couch."

"I never really thought of it that way," she admitted.

"That's because you never think of the two missing years," he said. "If it was you, Lana Lang, fresh graduate of Smallville High doing all those things people would welcome you with their arms wide open. But now all they see is Lana Luthor."

"I think you're right. I do think of myself as who I was before Isobel took me over. Mostly because, that's all I remember. There are flashes, here and there, of the last two years, but to me, the second meteor shower feels like yesterday," she explained. "And I wish I could pick up my life right where I left it off."

"I see," was all he could say. So it had finally happened. She had made up her mind.

"But I realized today that's never going to happen," she said and he looked at her surprised. "The last two years have changed me and the way the world sees me. I wish I could make it all turn back to the way it used to be, but no matter how hard I'll try it'll never be as it was. There will always be doubt. Do you know Clark crosses the street whenever he sees me now? And Lois won't even say hello to me and I have no idea why," she smiled weakly. "The truth is…no matter how much I'd like it to be otherwise, I've changed too. Isobel's changed me. I like wearing high heel shoes and driving a car at a 100 miles/hour…I like thinking about flying all over the world with you…And I can't even think more than five seconds about the word divorce without thinking it's a bad joke! She's tied me to you and I'm not sure I mind."

"Lana, what are you saying?" he asked staring at her.

"I'm tired, Lex. Take me home," she said with a smile, her eyes shinning in a way Lex had never seen them before. He smiled back and standing up extended his hand toward her. She took it without a second thought.

_End Part 19 _


	21. Epilogue: Never Really Gone

_**Author's note: **I've actually started writing a sequel for "Not in Kansas Anymore". It's called "Through the Looking Glass" and you can find it here at Just check my author's page._

_**Epilogue**_

_**Never Really Gone**_

She was in her bedroom, standing in front of a vanity mirror. She was dressed in a short silky nightgown and applying a layer of dark lipstick to her lips. Gerard Bouvier appeared in the doorway holding a paper in his hands. He entered without knocking. He knew no one beside her and her son were there. She looked at him in the mirror and the man neared her and dropped the paper on the vanity table. Lois Lane turned her attention toward it as Gerard sat down uncomfortably on the edge of the king sized bed.

"Oh, don't you just love a happy ending?" she said with a grimace looking at the first page of the Enquirer that announced in big bold letters: "In love again. The Luthors' amorous escapade to the Caribbeans". Beneath the title, pictures showed Lex and Lana Luthor on a yacht, holding each other and smiling with a breathtaking exotic scenery in the background. "I didn't expect her to last so long anyway," she admitted throwing the paper away. "There's only so much a person can take. Especially one as horribly weak as Lana Lang. It was a real shocker she managed to go through the first two weeks without jumping off a building."

"You said she'd kill herself in three days tops," Gerard reminded her. Lois looked back at him sternly. "I'm just saying…she's an inconvenience, madame."

"One, two, three, who cares?" she asked as Alex came running toward her and she scooped him up into her arms. The boy giggled and she smiled. "Who's my precious little angel?"

"I am?" the boy asked shyly.

"M-hmm, and who do we hate most in the world?" she asked rising him up in her arms.

"Lex Luthor," the boy said firmly.

"That's right!" she said chuckling. "And why do we hate him?" she asked him, but the boy, although he had heard it before in the last few days, couldn't quite remember. "Because he tried to get rid of mommy. And no one gets rid of mommy," she added with a smile. Her short nightgown fell around her waist as she bent over to deposit her son on the floor. Tattooed on the lower part of her back was a strange symbol that not long before had belonged to another woman.

On the vanity table a strange little artifact shone weakly in the dim light of the room. It was the same one Quentin Terrane had stolen from his father's vault for Lana Luthor.

_The End _


End file.
